Tolle asks the question, “Do you want peace or drama?” p. 77. “Can you feel that there is something in you that is at war, something that feels threatened and wants to survive at all cost, that needs the drama in order to assert its identity as the victorious character within that theatrical production?” p.77. I realize that within me—I would rather be right than have peace.
For Tolle, awareness is the power of the present moment! “And so a power comes into your life that is far greater than the ego, greater than the mind.”p.78. “Awareness is the power that is concealed within the present moment.” p.78. He calls it Presence.
“The ultimate purpose of human existence, which is to say, your purpose, is to bring that power into this world.” P. 78. The power of Presence.
As a Christian, I see this power as the presence of God. In the Old Testament literature, it is the Shecainah. The glorious presence of God that transforms the atmosphere and changes all that it touches.
Tolle says only Presence can free you of the ego. Only Presence can undo your past and transform your awareness. The western mind has remade Jesus Christ into a western spiritual figure. Jesus has an Eastern approach to spirituality. We must reapproach Jesus from an Eastern perspective. What did Jesus mean when he said, “Deny Thyself”? For Tolle, it is the ego—deny the illusion of self in order to discover the true self behind the mask of ego.
Can we discover the truest essence of our selves? Can I sense the I AM-ness at each present moment? Or do I lose My Self to the world?
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