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    April 19

    A Happier You-by Eckhart Tolle

    Eckhart Tolle's first book <the power of now> is the most valuable teaching I ever found from western spiritual teachers. American TV Host Oprah Winfrey had soul series interviews and talks with him(www.oprah.com), she called him the "father of now" she personally think he is the profit in this world, who said :now is not only vital, is all really all that is.  Below is his another book<oneness with all life>
     
    The greatest goal you can set this year is to make peace with your life, no matter your circumstances. These 10 powerful insights from Eckhart Tolle will get you started.Oneness with All Life by Eckhart Tolle
    1. Don't seek happiness. If you seek it, you won't find it, because seeking is the antithesis of happiness. Happiness is ever elusive, but freedom from unhappiness is attainable now, by facing what is rather than making up stories about it.

    2. The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always neutral, which always is as it is. There is the situation or the fact, and here are my thoughts about it. Instead of making up stories, stay with the facts. For example, "I am ruined" is a story. It limits you and prevents you from taking effective action. "I have 50 cents left in my bank account" is a fact. Facing facts is always empowering.

    3. See if you can catch the voice in your head, perhaps in the very moment it complains about something, and recognize it for what it is: the voice of the ego, no more than a thought. Whenever you notice that voice, you will also realize that you are not the voice, but the one who is aware of it. In fact, you are the awareness that is aware of the voice. In the background, there is the awareness. In the foreground, there is the voice, the thinker. In this way you are becoming free of the ego, free of the unobserved mind.

    4. Wherever you look, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence for the reality of time—a rotting apple, your face in the bathroom mirror compared with your face in a photo taken 30 years ago—yet you never find any direct evidence, you never experience time itself. You only ever experience the present moment.

    5. Why do anxiety, stress, or negativity arise? Because you turned away from the present moment. And why did you do that? You thought something else was more important. One small error, one misperception, creates a world of suffering.

    6. People believe themselves to be dependent on what happens for their happiness. They don't realize that what happens is the most unstable thing in the universe. It changes constantly. They look upon the present moment as either marred by something that has happened and shouldn't have or as deficient because of something that has not happened but should have. And so they miss the deeper perfection that is inherent in life itself, a perfection that lies beyond what is happening or not happening. Accept the present moment and find the perfection that is untouched by time.

    7. The more shared past there is in a relationship, the more present you need to be; otherwise, you will be forced to relive the past again and again.

    8. Equating the physical body with "I," the body that is destined to grow old, wither, and die, always leads to suffering. To refrain from identifying with the body doesn't mean that you no longer care for it. If it is strong, beautiful, or vigorous, you can appreciate those attributes—while they last. You can also improve the body's condition through nutrition and exercise. If you don't equate the body with who you are, when beauty fades, vigor diminishes, or the body becomes incapacitated, this will not affect your sense of worth or identity in any way. In fact, as the body begins to weaken, the light of consciousness can shine more easily.

    9. You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you and allowing that goodness to emerge.

    10. If peace is really what you want, then you will choose peace.

    Exerpted from Oneness with All Life by Eckhart Tolle. Published by arrangement with Dutton, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. Copywright © 2008 by Eckhart Tolle
    April 17

    If You Can...如果你可以。。。

    周四晚听完书店老头的课,John 跟我坐在火车站分享他路过Mount Waverley一个新教堂发送的小册子,名字叫<灯塔>

    The Lighthouse,最近陪妈妈在看孙红雷的《潜伏》,觉得这个名字怎么像当年对敌斗争中的地下党小册子,呵呵,是不是黑暗中的光明总给人革命的感觉?其中这篇文章很有趣,也令人深思。。。(英文中的GOD 反过来就是 DOG,这里也是趣料之一)

    If you can…

    If you can start the day without caffeine, (如果你可以不需要咖啡就开始新的一天)

    If you can get going without pep pills,(如果你可以不靠任何营养药丸而整天精力充沛

    If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,(如果你可以总是快乐,不被身体上的疼痛所困扰)

    If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,(如果你可以忍住不向别人抱怨和倾诉你的苦恼)

    If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it,(如果你可以每天吃同样的食物还很感恩和满足)

    If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you any time,(如果你可以理解有时候你的爱人是太忙而没有时间陪你)

    If you can forgive a friend’s lack of consideration,(如果你能原谅朋友的考虑不周)

    If you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you when, no fault of yours, something goes wrong,(如果当事情错不在你,你可以理解朋友把怨气都洒在你身上)

    If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,(如果你可以接受批评和抱怨而心无怨恨)

    If you can ignore a friend’s limited education and never correct him,(如果你可以包容而且从来不纠正朋友无知的低级错误)

    If you can resist treating a rich friend better then a poor friend,(如果你可以对待穷朋友和富朋友一个样)

    If you can face the world without lies and deceit,(如果你可以直面世界毫无谎言和欺骗)

    If you can conquer tension without medical help,(如果你可以不需要药物来缓解压力)

    If you can relax without liquor,(如果你可以不需要酒精来帮助放松)

    If you sleep without the aid of drugs,(如果你可以不需要药物帮助睡眠)

    If you can say honestly that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed or colour, religion of politics, (如果在你内心真的毫无对不同宗教,肤色和政治信仰的歧视)

    Then, my friend, you are almost as good as your DOG.(那么,我的朋友,你几乎跟你的狗一样的完美) 嗬嗬,比较看看,就知道自己为什么没有动物那么自然,不拘泥,接近天性,快乐无忧:-)