Saturday, May 12, 2007

The Power of Now

Eckhart Tolle's non-fiction bestseller, The Power of Now, describes his experience of enlightenment at the age of 29 after suffering long periods of depression, dissolving his old identity and radically changing the course of his life. This book emphasizes the importance of being aware of the present moment as a way of not being lost in thought. In Tolle's view, the present is the gateway to a heightened sense of peace and aliveness. "Being in the now" also brings about an awareness that is beyond the mind. This awareness helps in transcending "the pain-body" that is created by the identification of the mind and ego with the body. His later book, A New Earth further explores the structure of the human ego and how this acts to distract people from their present experience of the world. His other works include Stillness Speaks, a book that modernises the ancient sutra form.

The aim of Tolle's teachings is the transformation of individual and collective human consciousness--a global spiritual awakening.

Core teachings that appear to arise from his works are:

1. You are not your thoughts. You are the awareness behind the thoughts. Thoughts are often negative and painful, yearning for or fearing something in the future, complaining about something in the present or fearing a matter from the past. However, the thoughts are not you; they are a construct of the ego. Awareness of your thoughts without being caught up in them is the first step to freedom.

2. Only the present moment exists. That is where life is (indeed it is the only place life can truly be found). Becoming aware of the 'now' has the added benefit that it will draw your attention away from your (negative) thoughts. Use mindfulness techniques to fully appreciate your surroundings and everything you are experiencing. Look and listen intently. Give full attention to the smallest details.

3. Accept the present moment. It is resistance to the present moment that creates most of the difficulties in your life. However, acceptance does not mean that you cannot take action to rectify the situation you are in. What is important is to drop resistance so that you let the moment be, and that any action arises from deeper awareness rather than from resistance. The vast majority of pain in a person's life comes from resistance to what is.

4. Observe the pain-body. Years of conditioned thought patterns, individually and collectively, have resulted in habitual emotional reactions with an apparent personality of their own. During 'pain-body attacks' we become completely identified with this 'pain identity' and respond from its agenda--which is to create more pain for ourselves and others. Observing the pain-body is awareness itself arising--as it allows humans to separate from this unconscious identification with pain.

Eckhart Tolle is not aligned with any particular religion or tradition.

Influences which are alluded to in The Power of Now are the writings of Meister Eckhart, Advaita Vedanta, A Course in Miracles and Zen Buddhism's Lin-chi (Rinzai) school. The book also interprets sayings of Jesus from the Bible.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

How Anchoring Can Lead You To Success

Have you ever wondered why Sports brand Nike pay sports stars millions of dollars to wear clothes brandishing the famous swish logo? They do it because they understand the power of anchoring.

Nike paid Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan millions of dollars to don the 'Nike' cap and apparel. Were they crazy?

No! They were aware that by having them put on the Nike equipment, consumers would associate 'Nike' with similar intense states of motivation and inspiration that is projected by these two famous sports personalities.

When people watched Jordan and felt incredible, they would see the Nike Swish. Sure enough, seeing the swish gave people great feelings and states of power, motivation and confidence which were anchored to the visual swish logo.

By using the power of anchoring, Nike has become the largest and most successful sports apparel company in the world. When Nike first started paying millions of dollars to sports stars, many of their competitors thought they were mad to waste so much money but at the end of the day it is Nike who is laughing all the way to the bank.

Don't get manipulated...create your own powerful anchors!

If advertisers spend millions of dollars to constantly anchor powerful states in you to their brands, isn't it time you took control and started creating powerful anchors for yourself?

Do you know how couples fall deeply in love? They get fantastic feelings of love anchored to a person's face and voice.

As time is spent together, anchors of all these great feelings start to be linked with their partner's face and voice. So, every time they think of each other, they feel wonderful!

Conversely, why do people often fall out of love after a while? It is because the positive anchors eventually collapse and are replaced with negative anchors.

When you are in a relationship, you are bound to have misunderstandings and unhappy moments. The danger comes when you see your partner's face while you are feeling these negative emotions.

After some time, those negative feelings of hurt and anger get linked to that person's face, voice and touch.

Over time, just thinking of that person brings up all those negative feelings. This is why many people, once so in love, reach a stage when they cannot see each other without getting upset and fighting. As a result, they eventually fall out of love and break up!

Anchoring is a process that we all are subjected to, all the time. We must understand the power of anchoring for two reasons.

The first is to install powerful anchors so that resourceful states can be accessed at any time we need to perform at our peak.

The second is to understand how negative anchors limit us. This way, we can collapse them and stop them from controlling us.

Once you understand how anchors can work to help you tap into your most resourceful states, you can use it to move you faster towards your goals!

So make use of the power of anchoring now to lead you to success.


To Your Success

Adam Khoo
www.SuccessWithNLP.com

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

生命的价值

  在一次讨论会上,一位著名的演说家没讲一句开场白,手里却高举着一张20美元的钞票。

  面对会议室里的200个人,他问:“谁要这20美元?”一只只手举了起来。他接着说:“我打算把这20美元送给你们中的一位,但在这之前,请准许我做一件事。”他说着将钞票揉成一团,然后问:“谁还要。”仍有人举起手来。

  他又说:“那么,假如我这样做又会怎么样呢?”他把钞票扔到地上,又踏上一只脚,并且用脚碾它。尔后他拾起钞票,钞票已变得又脏又皱。

  “现在谁还要?”还是有人举起手来。

  “朋友们,你们已经上了一堂很有意义的课。无论我如何对待那张钞票,你们还是想要它,因为它并没贬值。它依旧值20美元。人生路上,我们会无数次被自己的决定或碰到的逆境击倒、欺凌甚至碾得粉身碎骨。我们觉得自己似乎一文不值。但无论发生什么,或将要发生什么,在上帝的眼中,你们永远不会丧失价值。在他看来,肮脏或洁净,衣着齐整或不齐整,你们依然是无价之宝。生命的价值不依赖我们的所作所为,也不仰仗我们结交的人物,而是取决于我们本身!你们是独特的——永远不要忘记这一点!”