For You the Bell "Tolle"

"The realm of consciousness is much vaster than thought can grasp. When you no longer believe everything you think, you step out of thought and see clearly that the thinker is not who you are."

I cut and pasted this quote directly from the web page of author and spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle.  And no, I did not receive anyone's consent to do so.  As they say, it is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.  Mr. Tolle has written two books on the subject of finding ourselves - The Power of Now and A New Earth - Awakening to Your Life's Purpose.  His writing is deep and I find myself having to read many paragraphs a couple of times to make certain I'm grasping what he is saying.  The nature of the subject, as well as his truly remarkable insights, lend themselves to having to be totally dialed in when reading these books.  Perhaps this was done on purpose.  Should anyone attempt to blaze through his writings, as if they were the Saturday Telegram or a Tom Clancy novel, then it is just as well that they never even started.  These books require, and deserve, reflection and contemplation.

I am almost finished A New Earth.  In a nutshell, the book is about our tendency to dwell too much on the past and on the future, all at the expense of the most important moment, which just happens to be this very second.  It is an awesomely cool concept.  Tolle is able to make it make sense too!  I think I was used as an unwitting case study in his book.  Maybe Eckhart was following me around for awhile just prior to publishing this book several years ago.  His words certainly struck home with me.

An interesting concept he proposes is that one of the results of our mixed up thinking is the physical impact it can have on us.  The body has to respond in some way to the negativity and disorientation that bombards it for years and in many cases, decades.  The result may be illness, unexplained pain, or general malaise.  Again, in my own life, I see examples of what he is saying.  I have had leg pain for twenty years that a myriad of doctors have never been able to explain.  Coincidentally, or perhaps not so, the pain first showed during a period in my life that was extremely stressful, brought on by the difficulty I experienced adapting to a new city and a new career.  As long as I remained a cop, the stress never really left and neither did the periodic pain.  I'm hoping that my recent retirement and learning from Eckhart Tolle and others of his ilk may be just the medicine to quiet the shooting pain.  I'll let you know how I make out.


I also have hearing loss and ringing in my ears, much of which is likely attributable to my career as a cop.  Thankfully, the loss is not because I did a lot of shooting at drug traffickers, as that would mean they were shooting at me too.  I did do a lot of shooting of all types of guns at the range over the years, worked close to jet engines too often, and had my drug dogs barking in my ears for 3 years. Yesterday, I went for a routine hearing test.  To my amazement and to that of the doctor, my hearing was slightly improved from one year ago.  The doctor had no explanation for this.

I have to sign off now as it is getting close to my bedtime and I'd like to read a little before turning in.  I'm thinking that if I finish the rest of A New Earth tonight, then maybe when I wake up tomorrow, I won't need my glasses either.