How to Stay Rooted in Being

Anchoring to the Now

Be aware of your sense perceptions. Can you just look, smell, touch, taste and listen without any mental commentary? Focusing your attention on the sensations from sense perceptions creates a gap between stream of incessant thinking and brings you into the present moment.. For example: Feel your feet connected to the ground. Focusing your attention on the sensations from sense of touch takes attention away from compulsive thinking and brings you into present moment. This is because attention is shifted from involuntary and compulsive thought activity to sensations from the sense of touch i.e Now. Improve your posture. Right posture can help you a lot to stay present. Have you noticed that when you are sitting with your back straight, you feel more alert and present? It helps even more if you feel the sensation of the place where you are sitting. This is because more attention is naturally shifted or withdrawn from the mind to inner sensations and sense perceptions (sense of touch). Which brings you into the present moment. Without any mental labeling, can you just listen to the sounds from the environment you are in? You don't need to worry about creating a gap between incessant stream of thoughts, because it gets created automatically when your attention is on ever-present sensations from sense perceptions.

Watch or be aware of your breath. This points to witnessing your breath, like feeling your belly movement, sound, inflow and outflow of air, gaps between inhaling and exhaling cycles, etc. It's all being run by the superior intelligence of your body, along with thousands of other complex bodily functions, in a synchronous and accurate manner.. You don't run your body, the intelligence does. Because awareness of breath takes us out of the activity of thought, it is an effective way to awaken. In fact, the breath, because it has no form, has traditionally been equated with the spirit, the 'formless One Life'.

Inhabit your inner body or being. Another present moment anchor that is closely associated with breath is inner-body. Can you feel the alive spaciousness or 'inner energy field' of your body? Your hands, chest, belly, waist, genitals, legs, feet, face, head, lips, and so on. This peaceful, alive and joyous spaciousness or energy field is always present within you but you can't feel it because your mind obscures it with its incessant mental noise or thinking. . Here's another way to feel it: without seeing or touching how do you know your legs, hands and other body parts are there? By feeling the inner energy field of the body. This is the intelligence, inseparable from the universal intelligence, that runs your incredibly complex body. Being aware of your inner body not only increases the quality and creativity of your actions and words but also attracts new circumstances that reflect its high vibrational frequency. As the world is just a reflection of your inner state. There is a saying in Zen: "Breathe from your heels". Does that make sense? They are talking about the inner body. The key is to be in a permanent connectedness with being -- to feel it at all times. This will rapidly deepen and transform your life. As through your inner-body, you are connected to the universal intelligence or One consciousness. When you inhabit your inner-body, thoughts and emotions, fears and desires, which have a low frequency, may still be there to some extent, but they won't take you over. Read Inhabit Your Inner Body More Deeply for more depth. "Underneath your outer form, you are connected to something so vast, immeasurable and sacred, that it cannot be conceived or spoken of -- yet I am speaking of it now. I am speaking of it not to give you something to believe in but to show you how you can know it for yourself." Eckhart Tolle. Here's a practice for you: from now on don't give all of your attention to the outer realm (thoughts, world, people etc.), but keep some attention within the body, and you will notice how it naturally dissolves suffering and enhances the quality of your life.. It’s because being lost in mind and seeking long lasting happiness and fulfillment in the outer realm lies at the root of suffering. Also, being rooted in the inner body is an essential aspect to be present.

Start with one body part and move on to rest. Feel the inner energy field of your body where it can be felt most easily, and hold your attention there. Usually it is easier to feel your hands and legs. When it feels natural, move on to other parts like abdomen, back, chest, neck, face, shoulders and so on. Now feel the body wholly as a global sense of aliveness. As you go deeper into your body by putting more attention on it, the duality between You (observer) and inner-body (observed), dissolves. You are your body. Read Inhabit Your Inner Body More Deeply for more. Your body loves your attention, so being aware of your inner body not only anchors you to the present moment but also strengthens your immune system (psychic and physical) by raising the frequency of the body's energy field. Which protects you from negative mental-emotional force fields of other people, which are highly contagious. Also, it naturally dissolves any pockets of unease or resistance within you. So simply invite the presence. Also, being in touch with inner body naturally helps improve or change your diet, as you are able to feel the true needs of your body rather than pseudo needs of Ego. There's no rule that you only need to be aware of your inner-body. It can be an effective practice to be aware of more than one present moment anchors, like inner-body and/or breath and/or sense perceptions and/or accepting what is and/or any other present moment practice, as long as it feels natural to you. This helps you go deeper into being or 'Now', by shifting or withdrawing more attention away from the time bound mind and its resistive patterns. It’s because Now is an essential aspect of each and every practice.

Watching Your Inner Self

Watch your inner-self. Another essential practice to stay rooted in present is to watch your thought activity, especially negative, persistent, resistive and repetitive thoughts and mental patterns that form the core of Ego. Don't analyze or judge, but simply watch, observe, accept and allow them to be. If resistance (negativity) arises in form of anger, fighting, reaction, sorrow, control, judgment etc., allow it to be. It’s because resistance in any form is ultimately a conditioned mental-emotional pattern and you are not your mind. When you are witnessing your mind, you are also aware of yourself as the witnessing awareness behind thoughts and emotions. Watch the emotions. Just as you watch the thoughts, watch or accept the emotions as they come and go without any judgment or resistance. There may be times when emotions become so pronounced, such as when pain-body gets activated, that the only ways to dissolve or lessen the pain is through inner acceptance and/or feeling it fully by going deeper into it. It’s because there's no escape. As you will read in the last section. When you single out the moment, you may notice that negative emotions or pain are no more than energy or physical movement, tension, heaviness, intense pressure, discomfort etc. you feel somewhere in the body and they don't make you unhappy. It's the negative thoughts and reactions that come in response to them make you unhappy. That's what William Shakespeare meant when he said "There's nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so". You are not your conditioned thoughts, mental patterns, reactions and emotions but the one who sees or is aware of them. Once you realize this truth, you relinquish resistance. That's when conditioned mental patterns that have kept humans bondage to suffering for eons dissolve, without any effort. Read How to Dissolve the Ego and Know Your True Self for more depth. Watching the thoughts and emotions also implies watching the subtle, vague or non-verbal mental-emotional-physical patterns and reactions such as boredom, urges, unease, nervousness, resistive pre-verbalized thoughts or reactions, background noise, physical tension, reactions or patterns, etc. You need to be extremely alert to make them conscious, as they are deeply embedded. Else mind will continue to survive and guide your actions and words from some hidden dark corner. When you don't resist the flow of life (thoughts, emotions and reactions) within you, that is to say when 'you' allow them to be and step out of the way, it naturally brings about an inner shift in your consciousness, from thinking to awareness. This awareness, which is essentially you and yet inconceivably greater than you, is the intelligence itself. Read Inhabit Your Inner Body More Deeply for insight. Here's another practice: Whenever you experience negative thoughts, patterns, reactions or emotions in your body and head, then rather than fighting or dwelling or resisting them, which is futile anyway, see it as a sign to immediately shift attention to inner-body or awareness and/or breath, before they take you over. Shifting attention becomes easier when you truly realize that you are not your mind. Ego has a delusion that resistance and dwelling on things will dissolve or resolve them. While, in truth, 'dwelling' or clinginess are forms of resistance, which re-energize the Ego and keep the undesirable mental patterns, situations and conditions in place. "What you resist persists." Zen saying. While practicing to shift attention from thoughts to Now, withdraws energy from the mind. Here's another way to look at it: Don't look and dwell on the 'closed door' of mind (conditioned thoughts and emotions) but go deeply into the open and ever-present door of inner space or Now. Mental (or form based) attention and adding more forms, which are ultimately thought forms, to false self are only going to intensify the egoic dysfunction. As adding more forms to self and thinking cannot liberate you from further pain and unhappiness. Only the timeless and formless awareness in you can. You will only lose yourself in thinking, analysis, acquiring, doing and world. "Can you just look and listen without adding any interpretation to anything?" Eckhart Tolle. If shifting is not possible, as your pain could be deep, then allow or accept 'what is'. If acceptance is not possible then accept that you can't accept. There are more pragmatic practices in the next sections. If none of these are possible, you will suffer. However, even suffering has the potential to eventually force you to surrender or disidentify from your mind and realize that negativity is unintelligent and mad. However, you may have to go through intense suffering and many cycles of pain and pleasure before realizing that.

Let the awareness channel into your body from the mind. When you are learning to be present and observer of your thoughts and emotions, you may notice how most of your consciousness or attention is absorbed and trapped by compulsive thoughts (and emotion) activity and conditioned mind. Like a dirty window that doesn't let the sun shine through. While being aware of your inner body creates a bridge between mind and body, which allows the mind-trapped consciousness to naturally flow into the body. This consciousness wants to become conscious of itself through you. It is only when the noisy mind, the false self, subsides that light of consciousness can shine through. That's why Jesus said, "Deny thyself". Which, of course, means deny the false i.e ego in you. In other words, you are not your mind. Can you keep some attention within your body and/or breath and/or sense perceptions as you continue reading? Whatever feels easier and natural at this moment. Read How to Live in the Present (Spiritual Way) for more depth.

Become aware of awareness. Have you asked yourself, "who's aware of the thoughts and emotions as they come and go?", "Who's aware of the sensations, tension etc. in body and head?", "Who is listening, seeing, tasting, smelling or experiencing?". It’s the ever present source of awareness or knowing or “experiencer” without which there will no perception. You are that. To experience the deep peace, joy and stillness of 'pure awareness', bend your attention back to its source, as if the attention is getting pulled back into its source, and hold it there. In other words, become aware of awareness. Its physical location is behind the upper nose and center of the lower forehead. It’s also called as 'Third Eye' in the east. When you become aware of awareness, you may notice that it automatically takes you deeper into inner space or inner body. It’s because inner space and source of awareness are ultimately one. It’s the limitation and structure of language and thought that creates the duality. Whenever intelligent, creative and holistic answer in response to a question, challenge, situation or problem is needed, feel the still space of inner body and/or awareness within. Through that space comes an intelligent intuitive response. Also, thoughts that come afterwards are creative and intelligent, as they are charged with spiritual power. "Stillness is where creativity and solutions to problems are found" Eckhart Tolle.

Look beyond concepts and thoughts

Look beyond concepts or words. Don't look at or analyze these words, but look where they point to. Mind has a compulsive need to automatically label, fragment and conceptualize words, things, people and events on the basis of its conditioning, due to a deep seated habit. So when human mind comes across a phrase or object or condition or situation that it has never interpreted before, it will keep trying until it comes up with mental interpretations or concepts about them, on the basis of its past conditioning and available knowledge. It’s because mind has a compulsive need to label, understand and conceptualize things, events, conditions and people. Which may be required and helpful in realm of form and practical life, but when it comes to realization of formless dimension within, your essential nature, it’s not needed. Realization is non-conceptual. So it is possible that your mind may automatically come up with interpretations of the mentioned pointers like 'observe your mind', 'free yourself from concepts', 'feel the inner body' etc. due to a deep seated habit. However, these interpretations would be no more than concepts created by mind to ensure its survival. Hence limited and will not transform you. Truth is unconditioned and beyond any words or content. The formless consciousness that you are is the Truth. This doesn't mean to not use labels or words or pointers. In fact, they make the communication easier, can point you to the dimension of stillness within, provide structure (if one needs), help replace deep negative beliefs patterns, and may help you to not fall into deeper levels of unconsciousness or Ego. Plus, with time, better concepts may replace old concepts. So they can be part of your journey to go beyond mind. Considering the current state of consciousness of humanity that is still mind identified or concept driven. In other words, many people may need conceptual framework, pointers or meditation methods during their spiritual journey. However, deeply realize that doesn't matter how perfect or helpful the words, pointers, concepts or methods are, they are limited because they are rooted in form and structure. So they are no more than stepping stones or signposts to be left as quickly as possible. "Finger (concept or thought) pointing to the moon (Non conceptual intelligence) is not the moon". Buddha. So don't just read with your mind but pay attention to any deeper feeling responses as you read. "Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things?" (Tao Te Ching). Here's another pointer: "The Tao (one consciousness) is like a bellows: it is empty (Non conceptual) yet infinitely capable. The more you use it, the more it produces; the more you talk of it (conceptualize, discuss, label or analyze), the less you understand. Hold on to the center (stay in touch or inhabit inner space or awareness)." Tao Te Ching.

Be aware as the pointer 'watching' may get misinterpreted as interference. For instance, be aware in case your breathing changes from natural to "manual" mode due to mind's interpretation of pointer 'become aware of your breath'. It’s because Egoic patterns are deeply embedded so you may not even realize that you are acting through conditioned mind. To be more clear, 'watching your breath' means to be aware or witness your breath as it happens naturally, without any mental interference, control or forcing to become aware of your breath. As forcing, control or interference imply that you are interpreting the pointer 'watching your breath' through mind. While problems of the mind cannot be solved at the level of mind. That's why resistance, suppression, control, analysis etc., which are aspects of mind, are utterly futile, keep you stuck at the level of mind and cause further suffering and frustration. "Rushing into action, you fail. Trying to grasp things, you lose them." Tao Te Ching. Mind may have an unconscious fear that if it didn't interfere or remember to breathe, body will die. That's one of the reasons why the pointer 'become aware of your breath' may lead to interference or control or forcing to breathe. What mind doesn't know is that if you had to remember to breathe, you will soon die and if you tried to stop breathing, body's intelligence will prevail. When you see this truth, you relinquish interference, control, willpower and simply trust the superior and profound intelligence of body. Most people have a shallow breath, so mere awareness of breath also naturally restores its inherent depth. Here's a practice: relinquish force, control or using will power to breathe and you will observe that breathing happens naturally without any effort or will. Although, a heavy pain-body could be the part of the reason why 'awareness of breath' may become interference or control or forcing to breathe. As you will read later. It also helps to keep your mind busy and think of constructive things as it helps channel or shift energy from compulsive and pointless mind activity to something constructive in the Now. Thus allowing you to feel the inner body more easily and letting the breathing happen naturally. This also implies shifting attention from mind to Now, which naturally dissolves resistance, unease and discontent in the body. For example: When you are deeply engaged in some task, you feel more relaxed and at peace because your mind is playing a secondary role. In other words, it allows part of the attention to remain in the Now in its formless state instead of being absorbed by pointless, repetitive, useless and Egoic thinking and resistance. While, when you are idle and bored, unease and restlessness set in because you, the mind, are treating the Now as an obstacle or means to an end or an enemy. Be aware, especially when you feel heavy emotions within, such as when Pain-body gets activated (as you will read later), that "going deeper into your emotions" or "allowing them to be" or "feeling them fully", may get mentally-emotionally interpreted as clinging, resisting, controlling or fighting the emotions. Ego is clever and deeply embedded that you may not even realize that you are acting through concepts or mental conditioning. Therefore a high degree of alertness is required. For example: Have you noticed when you have a sore throat, you feel an impulse or an urge to swallow every few seconds or minutes, as if to "check" if it's healed or not? or unconsciously resisting, thinking that your swallowing will make it heal faster? That's Egoic clinginess or interference, which is a form of resistance, and not a 'relaxed' non-interfering awareness or alert seeing. This interference actually keeps the negativity in place and slows down the healing process. When you notice this, simply acknowledge and allow it to be. If you can't allow or accept, then accept that you can't accept. Either way, no further resistance or trying. Acceptance of the Now is the key. Mind has this delusion that through resistance, interference, control or effort, it can dissolve the undesirable mental patterns, conditions or situations, and manipulate the reality. "True mastery can be gained by letting things go their own way. It can't be gained by interfering." Tao Te Ching.

Staying Rooted through Pragmatic Practices

Don't use any technique or structure or method as a crutch. Realize that doesn't matter how good the practices or techniques or methods or pointers are, the formless Presence that you are is the greatest agent for inner transformation and liberates you from suffering and dream of matter. So methods or practices or even spiritual content can atmost be pointers to the dimension of consciousness. Which means they are like sign posts and no more than a means to an end. We talked about this earlier. Although, it's fine to start out using a particular Hindu, Buddhist, Zen or any other method of meditation or spiritual practice, reading and/or listening and/or writing and/or discussing spiritual content, using a negative situation or thought to become aware, smiling, verbalizing or writing deep seated patterns and thoughts, replacing compulsive and useless thinking with constructive thinking or content or practices, chanting 'Om' etc. However, as you go further in your spiritual journey, you shouldn't become reliant on them. This is one of the reasons why mentioned methods or practices, for the most part, are structure-less and don't require you to dedicate time to practice them. . Although, it's fine to use methods during your spiritual journey or from time to time to regain touch with 'Being'. But again, don't use them as a crutch. Even if you are using a method or practice as a crutch then simply become aware that you are using methods or concepts, rather than forcing or trying to 'not use concepts or methods'. Which is another trick of the mind i.e concept of no-methods or no-thoughts. Which usually leads to suppression or ignorance of thoughts. The allowance of 'flourishing' of being stuck in concepts has potential to eventually force you to accept and go beyond them. "If you want to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand. If you want to get rid of something, you must first allow it to flourish." Tao Te Ching.

Workout. A good physical workout in any form helps dissipate accumulated surplus energy from your body, which helps lessen compulsive mind activity. That is to say, it helps you become more present, as attention to some extent remains in its unmanifested state Have you noticed that your mind is more active when you haven't done any physical exercise for a few days?

Replace compulsive, negative and repetitive thought activity with constructive content or activity or action. Whenever you notice yourself feeling negative, upset or lost in compulsive thinking, that noticing is presence. From there you can become aware of 'present moment anchors' or simply continue to notice or witness or accept your thoughts and emotions to be. Whichever practice feels natural and easy. If that's not possible, it helps to replace the negative, repetitive and compulsive thinking with constructive thinking or content or action. For example: think of constructive things or solving problems, workout, listen to peaceful music, watch some videos (like spiritual, funny or even entertaining), read spiritual or even interesting text, do something that you enjoy, keep yourself busy, replace negative thoughts with affirmations etc. As they can be catalytic and/or pragmatic practices to help you become more present by channeling energy or attention from mind's compulsive and negative activity to something constructive. Or at least provide a pseudo escape from the torture of egoic mind. This can be helpful when your degree of presence or awareness is not deep enough or when mind has gained momentum. As an analogy: you are going along a fast flowing river (momentum of mental noise from years of conditioning) on a boat (Constructive content or action or spiritual practice), as you cross the stream to get to the other shore (become present). Replacing clutter (repetitive and compulsive mental noise) with more and more spiritual pointers or teachings in a hope that it will quickly deepen your presence, may or may not work for you, depending upon the intensity and degree of arising presence in you.Stay Rooted in Being Step 13 Version 2.jpg Analogy: Its like disrupting the natural growth of the body with increased diet (spiritual teachings and practices) with a notion that it will help children grow faster (going deeper into being). As body may not be ready (current level of consciousness) for the increase in diet. Physical growth may be different for different children but its still natural. Spiritual transformation essentially happens without any effort on your part and its gradual for most people. In other words, you cannot make it to happen but can only create a space for the presence", greatest agent for inner transformation, to arise by practicing being present, after you had your first glimpse of awakening. If something deeper within you is responding to these words, then you had the glimpse already and the dimension of presence is arising in you. That is to say, the process of awakening has begun in you. It’s also possible that you may have the glimpse while reading this article. More you practice being present i.e. disidentifying with mind, deeply you realize that you are not your conditioned thoughts, patterns and emotions but the awareness behind them. As degree of presence in you deepens. So it can be a pragmatic practice to balance spiritual knowledge and/or practices with the degree of presence within you If you hasted to become fully conscious or enlightened, you will not go far. Isn't that the core error that we are talking about? That is looking for salvation in the future, while treating the 'now' as an obstacle or means to an end. The only time there is and when you can be free of suffering and access Being; One Life underneath all forms. In other words, Now is the only time when you can realize yourself as the formless awareness behind the content of your mind. "Don't look for peace. Don't look for any other state than the one you are in now; otherwise, you will set up inner conflict and unconscious resistance." Eckhart Tolle. When you are aware of Ego in you then strictly speaking, it’s not ego but an old mental-emotional pattern. It’s because Ego implies unconscious identification with conditioned thoughts and emotions. While awareness of thoughts and emotions implies dis-identification from Ego because it’s another dimension of consciousness that is not part of thinking. So be aware that you don't start projecting yourself in the future, which is no more than a thought that you are thinking in the Now, as an awakened being. Any projection implies time (future) and seeing yourself as an image, which is a form(thought or external form), where you cannot find your true self. You, formless consciousness, can realize your essence at the only time and place there is; Here and Now. In other words, in your essence you are already complete and perfect now, so you don't need time, effort, or achievements, understand a great deal of spiritual teachings to be who you are beyond name and form. In fact, time is the greatest obstacle to salvation or awakening. Past and future don't exist except as thoughts and emotions that arise in the now, so why give them any reality? To accelerate the process of going deeper into Being, it helps to stay in the company of spiritual teachers or people, making the now the primary focus of your life, listen to the silence, do things you enjoy or surrendered doing, read and/or write spiritual content, recondition your mind to replace useless and resistive thinking with spiritual pointers (as the automatic or spontaneous stream of spiritual thoughts (pointers) may help you stay present), or any combination of spiritual practices. Phases can be different for different people, so don't compare yourself with anyone or "try" to accelerate. If you did, that'd be ego in you and will not work. Although challenges and suffering can drive you deeper but you don't necessarily have to go extremes and always actively look for them, as daily life offers enough challenges to bring out the pain and unconsciousness or Egoic patterns in you.. “Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.” Eckhart Tolle.

Forgive and let go. When you don't forgive yourself and others, it implies that you are holding on to psychological burden of resentment and pain in you and erroneously equating what you or they did and/or said, with their/your true nature or essence. While forgiveness, which also means letting go of the story and emotions that accompany it, renders the Egoic mind powerless by dissolving the compulsiveness of negative and reactive thoughts (stories) and emotions on which it thrives on. It’s an incredible liberation. It becomes easier to forgive when you deeply realize that most of us, to varying degrees, are suffering from the same collective and impersonal dysfunction or sickness i.e identification with mind or Egoic entity. It’s hard to resent someone's illness. "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." Martin Luther King, Jr. Read Dissolve the Ego (According to Eckhart Tolle's Teachings) for more insight. Forgiveness also helps you inhabit your inner-body more deeply. Jesus's saying "Before you enter the temple (inner body), forgive" points to this. Forgiveness is an inner phenomenon as it helps dissolve the psychological burden of time in you. So just because you have forgiven someone doesn't necessarily mean you overlook the insanity or Ego in them, need to interact or continue to be with them, not learn from your experiences, not take action etc. When there is true forgiveness, which also implies acceptance, your actions and words arise from non-reaction and unconditioned consciousness, infinitely more powerful than conditioned mind, as intuitive responses. So who knows what you may say or do. Read Dissolve the Ego (According to Eckhart Tolle's Teachings) for more on this. “If you don't want the burden of resentment or unforgiveness to accumulate then forgive every moment, so there's nothing left to forgive in the future.” Eckhart Tolle.

Write or verbalize your thoughts. Conditioned thoughts, especially pre-verbalized ones, can be slippery, quick and brief, but they have a great power to manipulate your behavior, actions and inner state. So a high degree of alertness is required to detect, acknowledge and accept them. Else mind will trick you into identifying with it again and again. It helps to write your recurring, persistent thoughts and reactions, including the conditioned thought that says "I need to write my thoughts". Writing can help you give them full attention and full attention implies acceptance. Alternatively, you can also verbalize your inner state. Consciously verbalizing and inquiring into your inner state help bring the unobserved, pre-verbalized and deep-seated mental patterns in the light of your consciousness.. Else they will continue to run your life. Also, verbalizing is like taking action which helps withdraw energy from the reactive and resistive mind to the Now (sense perceptions). When you verbalize, be aware that there is a space or a sense of dis-identification between you and thoughts. Again, you are not your thoughts, emotions and sense perceptions but the one who sees or is aware of them. Read Dissolve the Ego (According to Eckhart Tolle's Teachings) for more insight. You can also simply count your thoughts, patterns and reactions, especially repetitive and compulsive ones that have been running in your head for a long time. As counting can help you remain alert. Like an alert cat watching a mouse hole. Note: There's no need to explore into your past except it arises in the Now as a thought, emotion, reaction, situation or person. Else exploring, analyzing or investigating the past will become a bottomless pit, as there's always more stories and analysis. Once you see the root of dysfunction within you, there's no need to explore its countless manifestations. Your light of presence is primary and all that is needed to dissolve the psychological time accumulated in your brain and body. "Anything you accept fully will take you into peace." Eckhart Tolle.

Smooth the transition from mental 'clutter' to 'inner space' or Being. It may not be that easy to get in touch with Being or disidentify from your mind, especially when mind activity is high. Or rather it’s so easy that people continuously overlook. Mind has an incredible momentum from years of collective, personal and cultural conditioning that could drag you along like a wild river. So forcing, trying, controlling or using will power, which are aspects of mind, in an attempt to become present or watch the mind don't work. Again, problems of the mind cannot be solved at the level of mind. So deeply realize that resistance cannot dissolve the underlying pain. Often this 'forcing' or 'trying' become mental concepts or patterns and lead to suppression, control, fighting etc., which reenergize the thoughts (ego) and they come with even more intensity. Plus suppression can take you below mind. The level where plants and animals dwell.. To ensure our survival and evolve consciously, we need to go beyond the mind (thoughts), not below it. So smoothing the transition from clutter (mental noise) to inner space can be a pragmatic, fluid and unforced practice. Whenever you notice yourself lost in compulsive and/or pointless and/or negative thinking or patterns, that noticing is awareness and beginning of coming out of Egoic thought stream. Like a sun ray peeping through clouds. From there either you can become aware of your breath or if it's not that easy then you can experiment with any mentioned pragmatic practices such as verbalizing, expressing your inner state, inner acceptance, chanting 'Om', smiling, replacing repetitive and involuntary and negative thought activity with constructive thinking and/or practical actions or spiritual pointers (or talks), removing yourself from the situation, any presence or meditation practice, or simply being there in the background as a witnessing presence and allowing the thoughts and reactions to be. Whichever practice or combination of practices feels natural and easy in the Now. For more pragmatic practices, read Dissolve the Ego (According to Eckhart Tolle's Teachings). From there it gets easier to become aware of your breath. Subsequently, it gets easier to feel the inner body. If none of it is possible, you will suffer. However, again, even acute suffering has potential to eventually force you to surrender and disidentify from your mind. Analogy: It’s like reducing and replacing the dose of drugs (in this case its compulsive thoughts or content) of a patient gradually. As abrupt withdrawal could cause severe consequences for some patients. And yes, whether you know that or not, most people are addicted to thoughts and emotions because of identification with mind and they provide a sense of 'familiarity'. While unknown, present moment, is dangerous to Egoic mind.. This is one of the reasons why ego disregards, resists, ignores and continuously covers up the Now with compulsive thinking or content.

Honor your primary purpose. When you are walking from one place to another, your primary purpose is not to 'get to the place' but 'walking'. Similarly, when you are trying to get to a particular page in the book, your primary purpose is not to get to the page but 'turning the pages'. Whatever you are doing in the now, give it your full attention or atleast not treat it as a means to an end or obstacle. If that's not possible then simply be aware that you are treating it as a means to an end or obstacle. Zen's saying "Do one thing at a time", points to this truth. It’s because if you are not, you are not honoring life; which is inseparable from the now. "Just because everyone is doing it, doesn't make it any less insane." Eckhart Tolle. Start with little things. Be present while doing chores or simple things like brushing teeth, cooking, walking, folding laundry, opening/closing the door and so on. You can also keep some attention on one or more mentioned 'present moment anchors' while doing these things. Or give full attention to whatever you are doing at this moment. Whichever practice feels natural and easy in the moment. Most people treat these simple things as insignificant but they are actually great opportunities to practice the 'art of being present'. Honoring your primary purpose is honoring life. Which is always now. . Quality of the present moment determines the quality of your future. Read Know Your True Self for more depth on this. Eckhart Tolle — 'Don't let a mad world tell you that success is anything other than a successful present moment.'

Dissolving the Ego

Dissolve the ego. Ego is current state of consciousness of humanity. It is the dysfunction of identification with conditioned mind (thoughts, patterns and emotions) that is the primary cause of suffering on this planet. In other words, believing that you are your conditioned thoughts, reactions and emotions. To truly stay rooted in Being, ego must be dissolved. Which, in essence, does not require any doing but an alert seeing. It's highly recommended that you read How to Dissolve the Ego for more insight.

Surrender. "Surrender is simple but profound wisdom of yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life" (Eckhart Tolle). In other words, it is inner acceptance to the 'flow of life' within you at "this" moment. What's the 'flow of life' within you? The thoughts (including mental patterns), reactions (verbal and physical) and emotions that are arising at "this" moment in response to anything (circumstances, people, thoughts, emotions, internal conditions, reactions). Fundamentally accept whatever arises in the Now as if you have chosen it. That's when life lives through you. There's a great strength in surrender and it's perfectly compatible with action. Only a surrendered person has spiritual power as when you are in a surrendered state, you have access to universal intelligence. Far more intelligent than limited conditioned mind. If you look closely, you will see that all spiritual practices ultimately lead to surrender i.e inner acceptance of 'what is'.

Dissolve the Pain Body

Recognize the 'pain body'. Have you noticed a heavy cloud or dark entity consisting of negative emotions in your body (chest, stomach, heart, head, face etc.) that gets activated or triggered by a peculiar event, person, negative thought, remark by someone close, etc., and takes you over? That's pain-body. Pain-body is a collective residue of the pain from personal past, as well as thousands of years of collective pain and suffering inflicted and endured by humans that may get passed on from generation to generation. So Pain body is one of the strongest things that ego can identify with.. Usually the pain-body is dormant and gets activated by an event, thought, person or any trigger that is peculiar to one. This could be women's menstrual cycle, painful memory or pattern from the past, particular thought, negative energy of the place or people, peculiar situation (like financial scarcity, rejection, failure, longing, abandonment etc.), consuming excessive alcohol etc. However for a deeply unhappy person, the pain-body may remain active all the time. Most humans carry a varying degree of pain-body in them that is also felt by other people on a subliminal level. So some people may attack (verbally and/or physically) or feel repelled by someone because their own pain-body is reacting to the other person's pain-body. "What you react so strongly in others is also in you and sometimes only in you." Eckhart Tolle. Usually pain-body is more prevalent and heavier in women because of thousands of years of exploitation and immense suffering afflicted on them. Although, for some people, the case could be reverse or it could be equally dense. It's also heavier in people who have been through immense suffering and/or their ancestors have been through immense suffering and/or their country/region had a painful past. Since emotions are a reflection of mind in body, so when the pain body gets activated, it makes your thinking deeply negative and then feeds on negative thoughts, as positive thoughts are indigestible to it. This becomes a loop. An activated pain body in you, which is highly contagious, usually triggers pain-bodies of the people around you, if they are unconscious, spiritually speaking. This means it may make other people to repel away from you and/or attack you verbally and/or physically or you may attack them, as an unconscious projection of your pain. Depending on if the pain-body is a victim or perpetrator.

Watch or be aware and allow it to be. Deeply realize that the pain is not you, but a psychic parasite that takes you over, feeds on negativity and drama, and then becomes dormant. Be the alert guardian of your being or inner space. Yes, the "normal" or conditioned response would be to escape or turn away from the pain, but sooner or later you will realize that there is no escape. The only way is through. Deeply realize that pain-body doesn't make you suffer but resisting it and identification with it does. It may seem like you are not resisting and fighting it because this process is automatic, deep seated and unconscious. Therefore alertness is required to detect it and to go deeper into the pain-body to transmute it into presence. See if you can detect subtle movements of resistive emotions in your chest, jaw(especially left one), cheeks, forehead etc. as if resisting what-is or willing it to change. Watching, light of your consciousness, severs the link between thinking and the pain body, as it prevents the pain body from rising up to mind and turn into thinking. More you witness the unholy alliance between mind and pain body, they lose energy and your presence power deepens. Also, you see more clearly that pain-body is no more than a bundle of old accumulated emotions in you that arise in the inner space of your body. In other words, notice the space around the unhappiness. Since Pain-body has a high momentum and can carry you with it like a wild river, so it is possible that during your spiritual journey, it will take you over, put you into a state of intense emotional pain (self-pity, anger, sorrow etc.), inertia, stagnation and make you do or say things which you would not do when you are relatively more conscious. However, be assured that it is an insubstantial phantom which cannot prevail for long in the light of your presence. Just like, doesn't matter how heavily overcast the sky becomes, it cannot, even the slightest, diminish or affect the Sun. As Sun is shining all the time and is beyond the weather. Similarly, light of consciousness is beyond the mind, and can only be obscured by it. Although being with a conscious person, who can sustain a state of presence amidst the onslaught of pain-body, helps as he/she can help you stay present, recognize it and look through the pain-body rather than seeing it as you. Also, allow the feelings and thoughts of guilt that arise after the pain-body episode, trying to personalize the behavior. This is one of the most clever strategies the Ego uses to keep you identified with it. Realize the fact that your presence was not deep enough when pain-body and ego took over you. Which means you didn't have a choice, even though it may seem like it, but to unconsciously act them out. With this realization comes forgiveness and compassion for yourself and others. Again, be aware of the mind conceptualizing the words and pointers like 'watch your thoughts and emotions', 'be aware of the Now', 'Go deeply into the pain body' etc. through its past conditioning. You wouldn't even realize that you have been acting through concepts (conditioned mind), as ego is very clever, subtle and deeply embedded. So a high degree of alertness is required. Even when recognized that you are acting through concepts or egoic mind then simply become aware of it or immediately become present, rather than using will power or force or suppression or effort to 'not use concepts', which doesn't work anyway because they are aspects and strategies of clever and limited mind. Awareness deepens naturally, more you practice being present and allow 'what is' to be, as resistance is what Ego feeds on. You cannot transform yourself or anyone, but can only allow it to happen by practicing being present. Similarly, pointers like 'witnessing your mind' or 'going deeper into the pain-body' etc. may get interpreted by mind as clinginess, resistance, pushing or fighting. Which re-energize the pain-body and keeps it there. As a more precise pointer, just be there in the background as the witnessing presence, so you are just aware of it and "watching the mind" doesn't become resistance or fighting or clinginess. Mind thinks that fighting or resisting the pain-body will dissolve it which is, of course, delusional and insane. In fact, resistance feeds the pain-body and adds to the unhappiness. You need to be the larger than thought i.e., awareness, to see how futile and dysfunctional are resistance, trying and clinginess, when it comes to dissolving pain. A pragmatic practice: it can help to keep yourself busy (taking action) when pain-body and/or mind become active. This practice helps withdraw energy, to some extent, from resistive egoic patterns and emotions, which allows mind and pain-body to be, to some extent, without resistance. It is quite painful and insane to stand in inner opposition to 'what is' and seek happiness and peace in mind and world. Where it cannot be found. In fact more you seek, more unhappy you become because seeking, which is an aspect of mind and all thoughts are about forms(world), implies that mind absorbs more attention and not much is left in its unmanifested state. While non-resistance to what is, dissolves pain and suffering without any effort. That's the power of surrender. Although, it is possible that the pain-body may take you over completely that you have no choice but to suffer and/or act it out. However, even intense suffering has the potential to eventually force you to accept 'what is' or surrender to the Now. So suffering has a noble purpose. We spoke about this earlier. Another effective practice is to immediately shift attention from repetitive negative thinking, patterns and reactions to the Now. This would be immensely easier when you truly realize that you are not your conditioned thoughts, emotions, reactions and mental patterns. We talked about this earlier.

Transform pain into presence. Depending upon the degree of presence in you, either pain body can take you deeper into unconsciousness or can become your greatest teacher to enlightenment. It's like a fuel that transforms into presence. We are not talking about presence in abstract terms. Once you surrender to ‘what is’ and/or hold the pain-body and Ego into the loving embrace of your knowing or inner space, which also implies allowing and accepting them to be and not treating them as an enemy or obstacle, you will witness dissolution of dense structures of pain-body and Egoic mind that keep the psychological time, suffering and sense of separateness alive, into peace and joy of presence or Being or awareness. This is the esoteric meaning of alchemy. Peace, love and joy are uncaused, part of your natural state and arise from deep within, not without. If you seek outside i.e in the thoughts, world, pleasures, experiences etc. you will be eluded every time. Jesus pointed to this truth when he said "Heaven is right here in the midst of you". Most spiritually enlightened people once had a dense and heavy pain body. This is one of the primary reasons why more women are reaching fully conscious state than men.