I finished “A New Earth” this week.  I cannot say enough good things about this book.  It truly sheds a whole new light on spirituality and life.  The last two chapters were so impactful.  Many things hit home for me … and many I will have to come to terms with.  “Living up to an image that you have of yourself or that other people have of you is inauthentic living” – Wow, how many of us are caught up in the ego-centric pattern of living?  And the bigger question, how do we break out of it?

With the work I do, I come across so many people who are searching, groping, longing for happiness and meaning in their lives.  I watch as people hop from job to job … from relationship to relationship …. Wanting a job or a partner to “make them happy.”  They will continue this pattern with a lot of frustration.  Tolle writes,  “Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you.”    

Others fill their lives with possessions … buying up as much as they can.  “…trying to find yourself through things doesn’t work:  The ego satisfaction is short-lived and so you keep looking for more, keep buying, keep consuming.”  “The unchecked striving for more, for endless growth, is a dysfunction and a disease.”  “When you can no longer feel the life that you are, you are likely to try to fill up your life with things.”  Is this why I have so many shoes?   J

The crux of the book in this line in Chapter 3:  “The ultimate purpose of human existence, which is to say, your purpose, is to bring that power [Presence] into this world.”

How do we slow down enough to appreciate the Presence?  How do we quiet our minds to the point where we can appreciate the stillness and become fully present? 

This book has provided such wonderful guidance for so many … and leaves us with questions on how we can incorporate its teachings in our daily lives.