33 quotes
Happiness depends on conditions being perceived as positive; inner peace does not.
The Power of Now (1997)
Hope keeps you focused on the future, and this continued focus perpetuates your denial of the Now and therefore your unhappiness.
The Power of Now (1997)
Pleasure is always derived from something outside you, whereas joy arises from within.
The Power of Now (1997)
To be free of time is to be free of the psychological need of past for your identity and future for your fulfillment.
The Power of Now (1997)
The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not the possessing entity - the thinker. Knowing this enables you to observe the entity.
The Power of Now (1997)
Whenever you are able to observe your mind, you are no longer trapped in it. Another factor has come in, something that is not of the mind: the witnessing presence.
The Power of Now (1997)
There is no salvation in time. You cannot be free in the future. Presence is the key to freedom, so you can only be free now.
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)
To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.
The Power of Now (1997)
The moment your attention turns to the Now, you feel a presence, a stillness, a peace. You no longer depend on the future for fulfillment and satisfaction - you don’t look to it for salvation.
The Power of Now (1997)
When you listen to a thought, you are aware not only of the thought but also of yourself as the witness of the thought. A new dimension of consciousness has come in. p. 17
The Power of Now (1997)
Every outer purpose is doomed to “fail” sooner or later, simply because it is subject to the law of impermanence of all things.
The Power of Now (1997)
Be present as the watcher of your mind.
The Power of Now (1997)
The reason why you don't put your hand in the fire is not because of fear, it's because you know you'll get burned. You don't need fear to avoid an unnecessary danger, just a minimum of intelligence and common sense.
The Power of Now (1997)
The ego … reduces the present to a means to an end.
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)
Are you polluting the world or cleaning up the mess? You are responsible for your inner space; nobody else is... p. 53
The Power of Now (1997)
Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to "die before you die" - and find that there is no death. p. 34
The Power of Now (1997)
Meister Eckhart, the thirteenth-century spiritual teacher, summed it all up beautifully: "Time is what keeps the light from reaching us. There is no greater obstacle to God than time."
The Power of Now (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)