February 2022 New Spiritual and Self-Help Book Picks

Posted on by Tammy

NOTE: Every month, bestselling author of “The Universe is Talking to You,” and founder of Elevated Existence, Tammy Mastroberte, chooses her picks for new books, audios and card decks in the spiritual and self-help field. None of these picks are sponsored or paid for — they are her honest picks that she shares with others!

“The 7 Energies of the Soul: Awaken Your Inner Creator, Healer, Warrior, Lover, Artist, Explorer and Master,” by David Gandelman
David Gandelman has helped thousands of students look within to find their own answers to life’s big questions: Who am I? What am I here to do? How can I find happiness? Over the course of this journey, he began to notice that the overwhelming number of powerful life questions and conundrums his students encountered fell into seven categories, which he eventually realized were actually seven potent energies that existed within each individual soul. When any one or more of these energies is out of balance, our lives can become chaotic and unfulfilled.

In this book, he offers a detailed guide to each of these critical energies, as well as exercises and meditation practices that can help you evaluate your energetic strengths and weaknesses, and work toward spiritual and energetic balance

“The Blissful Breath: 10 Minutes of Daily Breathing Exercises that Will Change Your Life,” by Niall O Murchu”
I have a breathing practice I do almost every morning that takes 20 minutes, and I love it! In this new book you will discover how simple breathing techniques can help you feel better right here, right now, with just one breath!

Learn to harness the power of your breath to heal your body and mind with just 10 minutes of practice a day. These easy, accessible exercises can be done at your desk, in the shower or in bed and promise to improve your overall wellbeing; from increasing energy, strengthening the immune system and even enhancing creativity. With just one cycle of breath, we can reduce stress, elevate our mood and improve our focus.

“Breaking the Habit of Negative Thinking and Self-Talk,” by Eckhart Tolle
In his newest audio program, renowned teacher and author, Eckhart Tolle helps guide us out of negative talk from the ego and into a better state of living. In four immersive audio sessions, he shares insights, stories, illustrations, and practices to gently navigate us to our natural state of presence, free of the mental labels and judgments that create suffering.

You will discover why the ego craves unhappy states, how to free ourselves from its endless chatter, ways to bring ourselves to the liberated spaciousness of unveiled Presence, and more.

“There is only one universal consciousness that emanates from the source of all life,” Eckhart Tolle reflects, “and our true state of being arises out of it.” Here, he points us, moment-by-moment, back to our deeper, limitless self.

“Divine Beloved Oracle Cards: A Deck of 52 Change Me Prayer Cards,” by Tosha Silver
From the author of the bestseller “Change Me Prayers,” Tosha Silver created a new oracle card deck to petition the divine for support and transformation, wherever it’s needed in your life. It puts her “Change Me Prayers,” right at your fingertips for help with loving and accepting yourself just as the Divine does; acknowledge feelings of anger, resentment and bitterness – in order to release them; stay open to guidance – even in unexpected forms; become a conduit for Divine blessings and the highest good and more.

“Emotional Detox Now: 135 Self-Guided Practices to Renew Your Mind, Heart and Spirit,” by Sherianna Boyle
Feeling uninspired on a (every?) Monday morning? Cleanse it. Fuming after an argument…two days later? Cleanse it. Exhausted by drama at the office? Cleanse it. Author Sherianna Boyle’s simple cleanse system introduced in her book “Emotional Detox,” will help you process difficult and overwhelming emotions, no matter what they may be. Her newest book gives you the tools to take on whatever life throws your way. Covering over 135 different emotions and situations, from decision making and disappointment to homesickness and heartbreak, the book includes a cleanse for every situation and scenario.

It takes only a few minutes to move through the cleanse process, but you will find that the practice transforms your attitude. By checking in with your body and allowing your emotions to fully manifest instead of brushing them aside, you will be able to process what you are feeling and step back into your life refreshed and empowered to confront whatever challenge you may be facing.

“Goddesses, Gods and Guardians Oracle Cards: A 44-Card Deck and Guidebook,” by Sophie Bashford
Connect with the divine feminine and masculine energies of this sacred oracle and receive guidance for inner healing and spiritual growth. The 44 cards depict a diverse collection of powerful global deities and spiritual guides to divinely support, empower and inspire your path. The accompanying guidebook will teach you about each sacred figure’s origins, how to intuitively interpret their messages and connect with their healing energies. Let the goddesses, gods and guardians walk alongside as you create a life of self-healing, spiritual connection and enlightened purpose.

“Happy Days: The Guided Path from Trauma to Profound Freedom and Inner Peace,” by Gabrielle Bernstein
If you were free from fear, who would you have the freedom to be? In her newest book, Gabrielle Bernstein charts a path to heal trauma, unlearn fear and remember love.

What if you could wake up every day without anxiety? View your past with purpose, not regret? Live happy, peaceful, and free from fear? You can—and Gabrielle Bernstein will show you the way.

In her newest book, you will discover:

Why most people feel stuck in patterns that make them unhappy — and what to do about it
9 transformational, yet untapped, techniques for serenity and genuine happiness — from techniques for “reparenting” yourself to bodywork practices for freeing the stuck energy of past trauma
The mindset shift that can do more for you than decades of personal work
How to go into the places that scare you—and come away freer than ever before

“Here & Hereafter: How Wisdom from the Departed Can Transform Your Life Now,” by Tyler Henry
From Tyler Henry, celebrated medium, comes the ultimate self-help guide detailing the insights the departed have communicated about how to live our best, most meaningful lives. Henry has had thousands of communications with those who’ve already gone through humanity’s final frontier: physical death. The life lessons he’s learned from those conversations have been truly transformative.

In this book, Tyler explains by listening and learning from the departed, following their guidance, and paying attention to what they might have done differently, we can get more fulfillment and purpose from our own lives. It will shed light on the most powerful understandings he has gained from modern day mediumship ― and explain how those understandings can lead us to live a more meaningful life.

“Life Force: How New Breakthroughs in Precision Medicine Can Transform the Quality of Your Life and Those You Love,” by Tony Robbins
What if there were scientific solutions that could wipe out your deepest fears of falling ill, receiving a life-threatening diagnosis, or feeling the effects of aging? What if you had access to the same cutting-edge tools and technology used by peak performers and the world’s greatest athletes?

In a world full of fear and uncertainty about our health, it can be difficult to know where to turn for actionable advice you can trust. Today, leading scientists and doctors in the field of regenerative medicine are developing diagnostic tools and safe and effective therapies that can free you from fear.

In this book, Tony Robbins, who has coached more than 50 million people, brings you more than 100 of the world’s top medical minds and the latest research, inspiring comeback stories, and amazing advancements in precision medicine that you can apply today to help extend the length and quality of your life.

This book, which will show you how to wake up every day with increased energy, a more bulletproof immune system, and the know-how to help turn back your biological clock, is the result of Robbins going on his own life-changing journey. After being told that his health challenges were irreversible, he experienced firsthand how new regenerative technology not only helped him heal but made him stronger than ever before.

“The Little Frog Awakes: Mindfulness Exercises for Toddlers (and Their Parents),” by Eline Snel
Parenting toddlers can be challenging but mindfulness can help! The popular author of “Sitting Still Like a Frog” Eline Snel offers advice and tools for parents of kids ages 18 months-4 years to respond skillfully and with mindful intention, especially in difficult moments.

This book offers parents of young children advice and tools for responding mindfully and effectively in the moment. These skills help us regain trust in ourselves and in the integral wholeness of our kids. And when we make mindfulness practice a part of daily life, it gives our children a powerful message on how to recognize, name, and deal with emotions and situations.

This practical guide will help you to connect with and respond mindfully to your own feelings as they arise; cultivate compassion for yourself as a parent or caregiver through meditations and breathing practices; encourage serenity, self-confidence and emotional regulation in your children, through stories and activities; strengthen your bond with your kids and help all of you manage stress; be more fully present with your children, and more able to give them your undivided attention; embrace imperfection and focus on the things that really matter, and more.

The book and the accompanying audio include activities, practices, and stories for both you and for your toddler that cultivate mindful moments and action, and self-compassion.

“The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward,” by Daniel H. Pink
Drawing on research in social psychology, neuroscience, and biology, Daniel Pink debunks the myth of the “no regrets” philosophy of life in his newest book. And using the largest sampling of American attitudes about regret ever conducted as well as his own World Regret Survey — which has collected regrets from more than 15,000 people in 105 countries — he lays out the four core regrets that each of us has. These deep regrets offer compelling insights into how we live and how we can find a better path forward.

As he did in his bestsellers, Pink lays out a dynamic new way of thinking about regret and frames his ideas in ways that are clear, accessible and pragmatic. Packed with true stories of people’s regrets as well as practical takeaways for reimagining regret as a positive force, the book shows how we can live richer, more engaged lives.

“The Secret to Love, Health and Money: A Masterclass,” by Rhonda Byrne
This in-depth masterclass from the author of the groundbreaking bestseller “The Secret,” illustrates how to apply the law of attraction to three of life’s most important areas: relationships, health, and money.

Discover how to achieve personal happiness, wellbeing and success with this collection of lessons, advice, and case studies. In the first part, she further explores the power of positive thoughts and how we can use the creative process to attract and maintain new and healthier relationships.

The second part offers in-depth lessons that will help you apply the law of attraction to your health and physical wellbeing, featuring inspiring anecdotes from those who have used “The Secret” to overcome health crises such as cancer, chronic pain, depression, and more.

And then in the last part you will learn how to improve your relationship with money by discovering the power you have to bring money into your life. From job hunting to adopting a wealth mindset, Byrne provides all that you need to achieve prosperity and professional success.

Elevated Existence December 2018/January 2019 Book Picks

Posted on by Tammy

Each month, a ton of new spiritual and self-help books hit the market. It’s easy to get overwhelmed or miss out on some new releases.

I created Elevated Existence Monthly Book Picks to help narrow down your search, and make sure you don’t miss some great options!

Here are the picks for December 2018 and January 2019. They are listed below in alphabetical order. Click on each title to go directly to Amazon and find out more about the book.

“The 5-Minute Recharge: 31 Proven Strategies to Refresh, Reset, and Become the Boss of Your Day,” by Lynne Everatt and Addie Greco-Sanchez
Science has proven that you have the power, through your habitual ways of thinking and behaving, to renovate the space inside your head, making it brighter, more resilient, and a more enjoyable place to be. In “The 5-Minute Recharge,” the authors share 31 techniques (backed by research) for thriving and at work and in life, including a mental fitness technique that is better than magic mushrooms; the best way to grow new brain cells and ensure you continue to look good in your genes as you age; the easily accessible trait that’s associated with the high-performance personality; what George Clooney can teach you about tapping into your inner wisdom; and the Navy Seal tactic you can use to trigger relaxation even in tense situations.

“The 30-Day Money Cleanse: Take Control of Your Finances, Manage Your Spending, and De-Stress Your Money for Good,” by Ashley Feinstein Gerstley
In just one month you can create lasting happiness in your financial life while also doing what you love. Ashley Feinstein Gerstley changed her relationship with money for good and is now helping others align their money with their own values; change their money mindset; and find more money for the things they love.

Even with a finance education and years of expertise in financial services, Gerstley was still stressed out about her personal finances. Why was she unhappy? She understood that, as a society, we don’t discuss matters of money enough. Many of us even punish ourselves with blistering budgets. But “The 30-Day Money Cleanse” turns all those ideas around. Following the author’s advice, you will learn to Clear yourself of negativity and create a new mindset of abundance in only 30 days!

If you want to eliminate money stressors; finally know where your money is going; break panic-inducing, bad money habits; learn the basics of how and where to invest; and make a plan that you can not only live with but enjoy, then this is the book for you!

“Crystal Bliss: Attract Love. Feed Your Spirit. Manifest Your Dreams,” by Devi Brown
Feeling worn out, unmotivated and uninspired? You can change your energy with help from Mother Nature using crystals.

Devi Brown walks readers through the crystal selection process, cleansing and preparing them for use, and incorporating them into meditation and healing practices. You will discover how to banish negative vibes, manifest wealth, promote good health and open your heart to love.

“The Divine Energy Oracle: A 63-Card Deck to Get Out of Your Own Way,” by Sonia Choquette
In this new oracle card deck, Sonia Choquette is helping users to become more Divinely awakened. It’s designed to connect one with Divine Energy, and each card offers a “personal invitation to become more Divinely awakened and empowered,” while also addressing the soul shift necessary in order to achieve what they desire.

“By following the guidance on the card you pick, you’ll find the answer you need to best meet every situation in life,” Choquette says in the guidebook. “Each card offers small, manageable steps that you can achieve day by day, steadily advancing toward your highest goals on a spiritual level. In the process, you’ll get out of your own way and begin to experience the personal success and satisfaction that you seek in your life, as well as bring your special gifts and energy to the planet.”

“I’ve Been Thinking . . . The Journal: Inspirations, Prayers, and Reflections for Your Meaningful Life,” by Maria Shriver
As a follow-up to her bestselling book, this inspiring, interactive journal by Maria Shriver encourages readers to explore what they’ve been thinking, the same way she explored it for herself in her book. She created a journal that encourages readers to write about themselves and what truly matters in their own lives.

With a new introduction, creative thought-provoking prompts, and complete with many of Shriver’s own prayers and quotes, I’ve Been Thinking is gives readers the space to reflect on what a meaningful life looks like to them.

“The Journey into Yourself: A Retreat to Deepen the Realization of Your Essential Nature,” by Eckhart Tolle
In this new audio, Eckhart Tolle invites you to join him on an odyssey beyond the “horizontal dimension” of thought and into the often overlooked “vertical dimension,” somewhere beyond the reach of the mind. According to Tolle, the vertical dimension might be better understood as the current moment or the Now—all that ever actually is. And this includes the self—the real you.

Recorded in front a live audience at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, this program presents a rarely heard talk from Eckhart’s early teaching career. With this you will encounter over eight hours of practical, thought provoking, and occasionally hilarious teachings for becoming who we are beyond the physical. This includes why the phrase “life is a dream” is more accurate than you might expect; piercing the veil of self-made suffering; the gentle and fierce aspects of embodied Presence; why setbacks and discomfort are the most potent teachers and more.

“Life Admin: How I Learned to Do Less, Do Better, and Live More,” by Elizabeth Emens
Desperate to survive in her household with two young children and an endless to-do list, and to help others along the way, Elizabeth Emens set out on a journey to conducted interviews and focus groups to gather popular tips and tricks, admin confessions, and other secrets of admin-happy households.

Life Admin tackles the admin problem in every one of its forms, from everyday tasks like scheduling appointments and paying bills, to life events from planning a wedding or birth to a funeral. Emens explores how these labors are created, how it affects our lives, and how we might avoid, and redistribute admin whenever possible.

“Millionaire Success Habits: The Gateway to Wealth & Prosperity,” by Dean Graziosi
Renowned business coach and entrepreneur Dean Graziosi takes you from where you are to where you want to be in life in this newly revised and updated book – with all new chapters on productivity. Using the simple tools taught in the book, readers can learn how to reshape their daily routines and open new doors to prosperity. With Dean’s 30-day Better Life Challenge you can catapult yourself into your new life.

This book is not about finding more time in your day. It is about switching those things that are not serving your future with successful habits designed to assist you on your journey. In this text, you’ll:

Dig deep to identify your “why”–the true purpose that drives you and why you want to succeed.
Expose and overcome the “villain within” that holds you back.
Unlock the biggest secret to being productive.
Believe in your own massive potential–so you can make it a reality

“Mind Detox: Discover and Resolve the Root Causes of Chronic Conditions and Persistent Problems,” by Sandy C. Newbigging
Suffer from physical or emotional conditions? Stuck with the same patterns in your life? Don’t know why you react the way you do and can’t seem to help it? Much of our chronic, repetitive behaviors, and emotional trauma can be traced to unresolved events stuck in the unconscious mind.

In Mind Detox, Sandy C. Newbigging reveals a simple 5-step method for detoxing the unconscious mind and resolving those life problems. He explains how to turn back time to find the significant emotional event, the main experience, that shaped the core beliefs that trigger your chronic conditions and patterns, and describes how to reflect on why this event was a problem at the time. Then he teaches to meditate on the experience in light of your present-day self, allowing you to create new results about what happened.

He also offers guidance on how to use EFT in conjunction with the Mind Detox method, and practical healing tools like the “decision destroyer.” You will also learn what the most common unhealthy beliefs are that negatively impact health, wealth and happiness — and how to heal them — and success stories of how Mind Detox successfully cleared skin conditions, erased chronic pain and healed digestive disorders.

“Sleep Rituals: 100 Practices for a Deep and Peaceful Sleep,” By Jennifer Williamson
Do you have trouble getting — and staying — asleep? Healthy sleep rituals can help set the mood for a satisfying slumber and help you drift off in peace, and Jennifer Williamson offers 100 easy rituals for you to choose from in this new book. These include sleep-friendly recipes, like nutmeg-spiced warm milk; soothing practices like dry brushing; relaxing yoga poses, such as Child’s Pose; breathing exercises, such as alternate nostril breathing; calming meditations; and soothing writing exercises. They are made to mix and match for a completely personalized bedtime experience.

“Success Habits: Proven Principles for Greater Wealth, Health, and Happiness,” by Napoleon Hill
Napoleon Hill, author of best seller “Think and Grow Rich,” has been celebrated for his role in the self-help genre, and in this never-before-published work, Hill shares all his principles of success — key habits that provide the basis for a life altering success. Hill explains his fundamental rules that lead to a successful life.

The book is filled with Hill’s personal anecdotes written in an understandable, conversational style. His understandings apply to every facet of life, inspiring readers to achieve their own ambitions and create the positive change in their lives they have always dreamed of.

“You Are a Badass Every Day: How to Keep Your Motivation Strong, Your Vibe High, and Your Quest for Transformation Unstoppable,” by Jen Sincero
If you have ever had trouble staying motivated while moving towards badassery, You Are a Badass Every Day by Jen Sincero is the companion to keep you renewed, optimism, and driven. Realign your mind and keep an unwavering focus with one hundred exercises, reflections, and cues that will teach you how to maintain the breakthroughs catalyzed by Sincero’s iconic books “You Are a Badass” and “You Are a Badass at Making Money” going.

Owning your power to achieve to badassery is just the first of a few steps in generating the life you deserve and this book will help you power through obstacles, overcome the doubts that hold you back, and keep that determination inside roaring while you achieve your goals.

New Meditation Tools: Don Miguel Ruiz, Eckhart Tolle and More

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Elevated Existence editor’s rounded up the latest in meditation resources to help begin a new practice or expand on a current one. From Eckhart Tolle’s latest DVD to guided meditations by Don Miguel Ruiz, here are our newest picks!

Click the title below to view each:

Eckhart Tolle’s “Meditation: Practicing Presence in Every Moment of Your Life” DVD
Excerpted from Eckhart Tolle TV, the bestselling author teaches how to discover the present moment, how to meditate on an object and the role of meditation in everyday life.

“The Circle of Fire: Inspiration and Guided Meditations for Living in Love and Happiness,” by Don Miguel Ruiz
Author Don Miguel Ruiz offers a selection of prayers – including his popular “Circle of Fire” prayer – guided meditations, and inspiration on forgiveness, love, gratitude, inner silence and more.

“Meditating Selflessly: Practical Neural Zen,” by James Austin
Written by a Zen practitioner and neurologist, this uses question and answer formats to offer advice on different ways to meditate, explains different styles of meditation, and offers information about meditation drawn from the field of neuroscience.

Deepak Chopra & Eckhart Tolle Talk Consciousness & the Present Moment – Part 2

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CLICK HERE IF YOU MISSED PART 1 WITH ECKHART TOLLE!

As part of The Chopra Center’s “Seduction of Spirit” retreat at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., on April 24, 2013, EckhartTolleTV hosted a live-streaming event called “A Conversation with Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle.”

Who is Looking?
Following Tolle, Chopra took the stage and immediately picked up where he left off. “Right at this moment, as you are about to listen to me, just turn your attention to who is listening. You are looking at me. Turn your attention to who is looking. That is you. That has always existed,” he said to the audience.

That consciousness or “the one who is listening” has been with us all along, and is essentially timeless, he explained. “Time is just the movement of thought that creates a subject and object split. Transcendence is simply going beyond the subject object split – which is an artificial split, and the cause of every single problem that we know.”

Coming from the Vedanta tradition, known as Hindu philosophy, Chopra spoke of the five kleshas known as the cause of suffering. These are:

1. Not knowing who you are

2. The addiction and craving for permanence in a world that is inherently impermanent

3. The fear of impermanence

4.. Identifying with your self-image – all the labels, evaluations, judgments, ideas and concepts collected since birth – instead of your true self

5. The fear of death, which is also the fear of the unknown.

In the real world – the world of consciousness – there are not objects, said Chopra. Objects exist through perception. Another way of putting it is to say, “there are no nouns, only verbs,” he explained. “The universe is a verb. It’s an activity. It never stops.”

All suffering comes from nouns – or things – that don’t really exist, he told the audience. When looking at the five kleshas, or causes of suffering, all of them are contained in the first one – not knowing who we really are, which is essentially consciousness.

“You can’t find this presence by looking for it because it’s the one that is looking. You can’t find consciousness by looking for it because consciousness is the one that is looking,” Chopra explained.

Quoting Rumi, he said “who am I in the middle of all this though traffic.” He explained many of us identify with the traffic instead of the presence around it. We are always looking outside of ourselves for happiness – be it the right person, the right job, winning the lottery, perfect health – and all of this is thought.

“Before the thought arises you are already happy and after the though subsides you are exactly where you started from,” he noted. “Happiness or joy is the starting point, and it’s also the ending point.”

Chopra spoke about an acronym SIFT created by Dan Siegel, which stands for Sensation, Image, Feeling and Thought. These things occur within consciousness, but consciousness is always present with them.

“People ask where do I go when I die? Let me ask you a question,” he said to a person in the audience. “What did you have for lunch today?” The answer was a salad, and Chopra explained the memory came back to her through SIFT, an image, a feeling or a thought. “Where was that image before I asked you the question?”

He said traditional neuroscientists would say the image was in the brain, but they can’t answer where memory is stored at the cellular level. “Do you think if I went into your brain I could see that picture?” he asked the audience member. “So where do we go when we die? We go where the salad was before I asked you the question,” he joked. “We don’t go anywhere because we are there all the time.”

What we call the physical world – the one we experience with our five senses – is awareness within awareness, he said. If we could anchor ourselves in the “space” that Tolle spoke about prior, we can find a new and more joyful experience open to us.

“It’s your ticket to freedom,” said Chopra. “Why? Because it’s the you that never dies.”

Deepak’s Retreat
Chopra shared an experience he had at a retreat in Thailand two years ago in a monastery. Everyone there shaved their heads and eyebrows, went begging for food and shared one meal a day. The remainder of the time was spent in silence and “observing impermanence.”

“It had a dramatic effect on all of us because it threw us into presence,” he told the audience. “When we were leaving, the senior Abbott left us with two things, and I want to leave you with them.”

1.There are no boundaries in the universe. Every boundary is conceptual. In reality there are no boundaries. We create them, just like we create longitude and latitude for convenience.

2. The present moment is the only moment that never ends. Situations and circumstances around the present moment will change, but the moment won’t change because it’s timeless. It’s transcendent. It’s eternal.

“The most important moment of your life is now. The most important person in your life is the one you are with now, and the most important activity in your life is the one you are involved with now,” said Chopra. “If you do that, the unknown will become known to you. The unknown is actually known only in the present moment. Death happens only in time. Only that which is born dies; that which is never born cannot die.”

Deepak Chopra & Eckhart Tolle Talk Consciousness & the Present Moment — Part 1

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Both authors discussed consciousness, the present moment, discovering silence and more to an audience of more than 1,400 locally in California, and thousands more over the Internet.

Eckhart Tolle took the stage first and asked everyone to join him in the present moment rather than be absorbed by their thinking, which by itself is a shift in consciousness, he explained. An easy way to enter the present moment is through sense perceptions – noticing whatever a person can see and hear at the moment. A huge amount of our attention is “continuously absorbed by thinking,” and much of what we think is not relevant to anything important, and is negative, said Tolle.

“Every thought has a seductive quality, and it wants to draw you in,” he said. “But if you follow each thought you are at the mercy of what is in your mind.”

Living this way, consciousness is actually being absorbed by the mind. All the things that make life worth living – beauty and joy – actually involve less thinking.

“For joy to come into your life – a moment of joy – you might not realize it, but at that moment there is a space that opens up inside you where you are not thinking,” Tolle explained. “To recognize beauty anywhere, the thinking mind needs to subside and a little bit of space opens up … you might not recognize it, but you are not thinking. If you are thinking, you are not really seeing it. To really see it, there has to be a moment of alert presence where thinking subsides.”

This moment or gap in thinking is the presence or consciousness that resides within us all. This is the space that does not judge another human being, and where we can feel empathy and compassion, said Tolle. However, many people are so trapped by their minds, they live in a “totally conceptualized universe where every human being they meet, they judge, and they take entire groups of humans and judge them – they dehumanize them – and this is how violence can happen,” he said.

Recognizing Consciousness
Most people identify themselves based on images and thoughts in their mind, which have been taken from what they are told by others – their mother, father, siblings, environment and culture. They take this self-image on as their “story,” and it becomes the foundation for their sense of identity.

They often believe in order to feel better about themselves and their place in the world, they need to collect more possessions, or find the right relationship. They believe these things will bring them peace and happiness, but it is never enough.

“We are never satisfied for long and always things will go wrong,” Tolle said. You will never be satisfied for very long if you don’t know who you are and you try to enhance the mind-made sense of self.”

By identifying with the mind, we are only focusing on half of who we are – they physical and physiological form. “That is how most people live their lives, and they don’t know what they are missing,” Tolle told the audience.

While those who find themselves on a spiritual path understand there is a state of enlightenment, they often mistake it for something that needs to be reached or achieved. The truth is, this state, which Tolle called “the transcendent dimension” is who we really are and is always present. The reason people don’t recognize its presence is because they are tied up in the movement of thought and emotions in the mind.

‘Those things absorb your attention, and there is something very vital that you overlook, and that is something that without which you couldn’t even think. There would be no thought, and there would be no emotions. That something is presence – the formless presence of consciousness itself, which is always there if you stop thinking for three seconds,” Tolle explained.

While meditation helps us get there, we can be aware of this state at any moment. This is our other half known as inner presence, he said. Using the room where the event was taking place as an analogy, he compared the people and the furniture or chairs to the thoughts in our mind, and the space holding the people and furniture as the essence representing consciousness.

“Without the space, the room means nothing. It couldn’t even exist,” he said explaining the same is true within us. “There is a spaciousness within you that is continuously missed because you are so interested in the furniture in your head.”

Humanity is beginning to enter into an evolutionary shift where thinking is transcended, said Tolle. We are moving away from identifying ourselves as a thought-based entity and moving toward recognizing ourselves as presence-based entities.

“If you derive your sense of identity from the presence within you, and more and more you become comfortable with spaces of not thinking, you can walk from one building to another, or from the building to your car and just be in the state of alert presence. You see beauty everywhere, and you don’t need to label anything.”

One of the great spiritual practices is the practice of not labeling anything and not interpreting what we perceive. This can be done anywhere, said Tolle, recommending we try it the next time we find ourselves waiting at a checkout, traffic light or airport.

“Instead of waiting, invite the state of alertness in and realize there is nothing wrong with waiting. You either stand, sit or lie somewhere. Does it really matter where you stand, sit or lie?” he asked the audience. “You can use your waiting periods – instead of complaining – to just be present. Enter the field of presence that you are and at that moment you become a spiritual master.”

CLICK HERE TO READ PART 2 WITH DEEPAK CHOPRA!

Deepak Chopra & Eckhart Tolle Host Live Streaming Event April 24

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Bring best-selling authors and spiritual teachers, Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle live into your home via the Internet on Wednesday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m. pacific/10:30 p.m. eastern, as the Chopra Center for Wellbeing hosts, “A Conversation with Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle,” a special, live-streaming event.

This event offers viewers around the world an opportunity to participate in a conversation with the authors as they explore life’s biggest questions, such as finding our purpose, staying centered in the face of uncertainty, letting go of unhealthy fear and stress, and cultivating more joy, creativity, compassion and wellbeing.

“Through his books and teachings, Eckhart Tolle has helped countless people throughout the world move through fear and pain, connect to their true self, and experience the peace of present moment awareness,” said Chopra. “I’m looking forward to sharing a wonderful conversation and exploration with Eckhart, and those who join us will get to personally experience his insight, light-hearted spirit, and inspiring guidance.”

The evening event is part of the Chopra Center’s Seduction of Spirit retreat taking place April 21–27 at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., and is the only portion of the retreat that will be open for public viewing and interaction.

During a special Q&A session, participants will have the chance to ask Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle questions via e-mail and Facebook.

To register for the event for only $24.95, go to http://www.chopra.com/sos/liveevent.