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We must be willing to fail, to falter, to suffer, in order to become greater versions of ourselves. Sometimes, being shown lesser versions of ourselves can be the key to this personal evolution.
And perhaps most importantly, we must recognize that this personal evolution does not occur in a vacuum. To the contrary, we improve ourselves only if we improve the value we represent for the whole of humanity, in whatever modest capacity this may be possible. Here, we are driven by the idea that "a human being is a part of a whole, called by us the 'universe', a part limited in time and space."
This is perhaps the unifying principle in our discussion. The openness which is a recurrent theme here denotes especially the imperative to remain open to one's fellow man. Nothing that we do occurs independently of the needs and wishes of family, friends, communities, societies, civilizations and so on. We are infinitesimal units of an infinitude that is well beyond our comprehension. The best we can do is attempt...
Where we can improve our lives, the lives of those around us and the lives of those beyond us, we have a responsibility to attempt to do so. Only through an openness to the unfamiliar, a willingness to learn from suffering and recognition of the broader magnitude of the universe will allow us to do this.
I have always found that these principles apply directly to my personal experience as well. For example, when I travel to new cities or new countries, I make it a point to talk to as many locals as possible. You can learn so much more from one conversation than you can from one hundred tour books. So I introduce myself to strangers, share experiences with fellow travelers, haggle with shopkeepers and ask cab drivers questions. When I speak to a bartender, I ask him where he's from and what life is like there. If you open yourself up to strangers this way, you can learn so much not just about this new place in the world but also about yourself.
In attempting to become unaware of these attachments is where the "transformation of consciousness" Tolle references begins. Tolle notes that this attachment goes as far as our own bodies, and in order to find our true selves, we must assert that we are more than our bodies. He notes, "no matter what your body's appearance is on the outer level, beyond the outer form is an intensely alive energy field"
He finds that those people who are difficult to be around are led by their egos, though he does not use the term in the same way as traditional psychoanalysts, but in its colloquial usage. He makes it clear that ego and awareness are incompatible, like ego presents a barrier to awareness by helping the person see what he wants to see, rather than what is. However, once the person
He notes: "Whatever you think people are withholding from you -- praise, appreciation, assistance, loving care, and so on -- give it to them" (Tolle 116). In doing so, you will eventually find that you already have what you thought you lacked, because you have the capacity to give it, you therefore already hold it within yourself. We must avoid labeling events in our lives as "good or bad" solely
Emotion, he notes, is never to be confused with the ego. The ego is not truly the unobserved mind as people tend to believe, but is instead the voice inside everyone's head that pretends to be you. Additionally, the ego represents the unobserved emotions that are the body's reaction to what the voice in the head is saying (Tolle 83). Tolle explains the human capacity to dwell on the past
Such a presence exists without the negative energy that an association with the pain-body often brings. Tolle notes a session with a patient who relied significantly upon focus on the pain-body in her own life, and in moving to eliminate this she emanated a much lighter presence. Upon leaving the session, another individual entered and noted the tangible feeling of bad energy in the room, which had been expelled
Furthermore, that voice in the back of one's head is the true self, and it is critical for each individual to understand that voice and listen to that voice. So much of chapter three focuses on the negative impact of the ego on humanity that it can be very difficult to focus on any of the positive aspects of the human condition. However, Tolle eventually stresses the importance of moving