Eckhart Tolle changed my life when I was given the book The Power of Now as a gift. At that time in my life, I had released my attachment to the religion I grew up with and opened my mind to new views. I had begun the journey into self-realization. Something was missing. I still was plagued by an overactive mind that kept me in a loop of overthinking and worry. I couldn’t seem to quiet it no matter how much meditation I did. No matter how many books on spirituality, I read. I tried psychic readings, ceremonies, healers, crystals, and witchcraft spells.
I thought ceremonies would change my thinking
Then right before I was to travel to Tuscon, AZ for a firewalking ceremony, I received the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
I’d not heard of Eckhart Tolle, I’d read Neale Donald Walsh, Don Miguel Ruiz, and Depok Chopra. As I started reading it, I noticed my mind was resisting it. It took a bit of time, but when I got to the part of the Pain Body and how my mind wanted to continue to feed it with obsessive thoughts and memories of past pain, I realized that was what was going on. I felt tortured because I was being tortured. My pain-body was overtaking me most of the time.
The relief I had from finally knowing I wasn’t crazy!
I cried for hours and days. I finally had an answer. This was something that was inherited. My father and brother were both tortured with their mind. I finally, finally, had the answer. It was one of the most profound moments in my personal growth.
That wasn’t the end of it. The hard part was to work on not allowing my pain body to overcome me and to continue to be conscious of it consistently. That’s a journey. To be present! No ceremony or spells required. It was a practice to just be.
That has been my journey for the past 20 + years. I’m happy to say that now it’s less of my time that my pain body has a hold of me (rarely) and most of the time, I’m not in that insane loop of recreating the pain.
I watched my father and brother both continue to be tortured and even sickened by this inherited traumatic response. If I hadn’t broken out of that and developed a passion for understanding, I, too, would have allowed it to continue to create mental health issues and possibly sicken my body.
Looking back, I clearly see how we really do believe that is our reality. We really do believe our mind and we really do, by default, fall into the trap of the pain-body. We have to really want to find a crack in it where peace lives and begin to broaden that gap until we can release ourselves from the prison of the pain-body. The mental anguish.
I’ll always remember that moment my life changed.
I’ll forever be grateful for the gift I received in the mail from someone I’d never met. I’ll forever be grateful for the curiosity I had to open the book and fight against the powerful force that had a vested interest in me keeping my story and continuing to read that book. It changed my life forever.
Eckhart’s work has continued to be a part of my journey and I continue to look forward to the moments where I believe my peace is in the future and I bring myself back into the now. I use this to continue to facilitate others to do the same. If you have an interest in my work and want to dive deeper into self-inquiry, contact me for a Get to Know Me Session.