Spiritual Insight from Eckhart Tolle's Stillness Speaks

Why does Eckhart Tolle call surrendered action “empowered” action? Wouldn’t surrender be the opposite of empowerment?

In the take-charge, aggressive approach of much of modern business, to be in a surrendered state of mind would be viewed as capitulating to the forces of the world around us.

It would be considered anything but empowered.

Daily Spiritual Insight from Eckhart Tolle's Stillness Speaks 

When a problem arises in your life or you face some kind of crucial decision, how do you go about addressing it?

Many of us end up making decisions that are driven by our emotions. But emotions are not a safe gauge of what's right for us.

Emotions don't always represent our true feelings. We can be overwhelmed with emotion based on past experience that screams at us “don't do it!” But beneath this emotion our true feeling longs to proceed.

Today's blog is by guest Stephen Schettini. Stephen was a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan tradition for eight years before renouncing the security of institutional religion in 1982 and pursuing his own path.

Today Stephen teaches and writes about his mindful reflection™ path to peace and clarity.

I was watching an old Tom and Jerry cartoon. In this episode of Tom and Jerry, the dog brokered a peace treaty between cat and mouse.

Needless to say, while all three characters were super nice to each other for a little while, despite their best effort it wasn't long before the treaty broke down and there was a return to hostility as usual.

How true this is of human behavior, of which cartoons are generally a reflection. Our best intentions and most noble determination don't prevent us from reacting to each other in ugly ways.

I am so glad that thought isn’t the creative power of the universe. Although I often hear people claim that it is.

The reason I’m glad is that my life would have been one of far greater chaos, and likely ended by now, were thought powerfully creative.

That’s because I used to think a lot. It was such a stew of negativity, which I strove constantly to counter with “positive” thinking.

This was the experience of Eckhart Tolle, too, which he relates in The Power of Now. His existence was plagued with thought.