11 quotes
Happiness depends on conditions being perceived as positive; inner peace does not.
The Power of Now (1997)
Pleasure is always derived from something outside you, whereas joy arises from within.
The Power of Now (1997)
Whereas before you dwelt in time and paid brief visits to the Now, have your dwelling place in the Now and pay brief visits to past and future.
The Power of Now (1997)
The past gives you an identity and the future holds the promise of salvation. … Both are illusions.
The Power of Now (1997)
Cravings are the mind seeking salvation or fulfillment in external things and in the future as a substitute for the joy of Being. p. 24
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (1997)
The "second coming" of Christ is a transformation of human consciousness, a shift from time to presence, from thinking to pure consciousness... Ch. 5
The Power of Now (1997)
The whole advertising industry and consumer society would collapse if people became enlightened and no longer sought to find their identity through things. The more you seek happiness in this way, the more it will elude you. p. 118
The Power of Now (1997)
If you made a mistake in the past and learn from it now, you are using clock time. On the other hand, if you dwell on it mentally, and self-criticism, remorse, or guilt come up, then you are making the mistake into “me” and “mine”: you make it part of your sense of self, and it has become psychological time, which is always linked to a false sense of identity.
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (1997)
Awakening as a future event has no meaning because awakening is the realization of Presence. So the new heaven, the awakened consciousness, is not a future state to be achieved. A new heaven and a new earth are arising within you at this moment, and if they are not arising at this moment, they are no more than a thought in your head and therefore not arising at all.
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (2005)
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. There is the situation or the fact, and here are my thoughts about it. Life isn't as serious as the mind makes it out to be.
Oneness With All Life: Inspirational Selections from A New Earth (2008)
To the ego, the present moment is, at best, only useful as a means to an end. It gets you to some future moment that is considered more important, even though the future never comes except as the present moment and is therefore never more than a thought in your head. In other words, you aren't ever fully here because you are always busy trying to get elsewhere.
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (2005)