The Power of Now

[lumberjim]

On Peterson again...

I enjoyed the chapter on child rearing. Found that our opinions on it align. I recall a day when Spencer was 4 or 5. He had done something mean to his sister. I was not pleased. I swatted his butt. He turned to me, startled, asked, "was that a real one?". "Yesss" I growled.

Tears. I thought... He gets it. That's good dadding. Didn't hurt him at all, but he didn't want to disappoint or anger me. He'll make it.

Now on chapter 7 Jordan is discussing sacrifice and delayed gratification. The concept that the larger the sacrifice you make, the greater the reward. What's the ultimate sacrifice? Yourself? A child? Talks about Abraham and Isaac, Socrates. Comes quite close to the step that would connect this to Tolles work.

I thought as I listened:
He is saying in simplified terms that if you are willing to sacrifice yourself, you can gain entry to heaven. I hear Tolle say, 'Yourself' is your egoic, mind identified 'Me'. Heaven is inner peace or enlightenment. Just being free of that identification and finding the calm still place where the 'I' resides is the doorway to that inner peace.

So can you give up your identity? Should you?

Here again, I'm struck by the contrast of the simplicity of Tolle's... angle?... and the complexity of most 'thinkers'. They are both essentially trying to assist you end Suffering. Tolle, through eliminating resistance, Peterson, through rules and modes of conduct that will generate optimal situations. I'm picturing these deep deep layered thought constructions Peterson takes us through as kind of a hole he's digging. Delving a lot into historical teaching and primordial instinctive impetus that drives us. He's trying to dig his way out the bottom of that hole by thinking more and more complex thoughts.

Tolle, by contrast, sees the thoughts weighing us down, causing us to sink into that hole. Simply letting go of the heavy thoughts will make you light enough to float to the top. The monkey could just release the treat, and he could get his hand out of the jar.