REPOST: ACCEPTANCE TO ENJOYMENT TO ENTHUSIASM!

I want to say to any of my readers who haven't yet read (or listened to) this book... Eckhart Tolle's, "THE NEW EARTH"... do it now!

To those of you have been doing the deep self-work of self-actualization, and to those who frequently read this blog or have read books like "THE BIG LEAP," by Gay Hendricks, you will find a familiarity in Tolle's words, but his clear, direct and high vibrational way of articulating these truths is special.

Many teachers and writers who speak about consciousness mention three levels of consciousness, or three ways in which consciousness can flow into what you do and thus through you into this world. I have talked about the movement from "false clarity to genuine confusion to genuine clarity," while Hendricks refers to the "zones of competence, excellence and genius" in his paradigm. Tolle breaks it down as "acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm."

Here's Tolle:

"The modalities of awakened doing are acceptance, enjoyment, and enthusiasm. If you are not in the state of either acceptance, enjoyment, or enthusiasm, look closely and you will find that you are creating suffering for yourself and others. Whatever you cannot enjoy doing, changing a flat tire in the rain at night, for example, you can, nonetheless accept that this is what you have to do. Performing an action in the state of acceptance means you are at peace while you do it."

Yes, Eckhart. People often ask me questions about how one can apply Full Permission Living to mundane and distasteful tasks like washing a sink full of dirty dishes or a load of dirty diapers. I answer them by proposing a version of acceptance, or "surrender," giving yourself to the task at hand which must be done for certain reasons, such as desiring clean dishes and fresh baby butts. In the process of surrendering, you can find ways to make the tasks at hand less arduous. Play music, listen to a great audio book, indulge a pleasant fantasy... whatever works for you. It makes the task easier and you can speed up time in the process.

Here's Tolle again:

"The peace that comes with surrendered action turns to a sense of aliveness when you actually enjoy what you are doing. Joy is the dynamic aspect of Being. Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you. You will enjoy any activity in which you are fully present. The joy of Being is the joy of being conscious."

I love that line so much, Eckhart, I'm going to repeat it: 

"Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you."

Get it? True joy and en-joy-ment are what you experience when you are the vehicle, the empty vessel, the hollowed out flute that Sufi Master, Hafiz spoke of when he said:

“I am a hole in a flute that the Christ’s breath moves through.”

That is true egolessness, and anyone who has truly experienced joy has simultaneously experienced deep humility along with it because they know at some level that they are channeling something higher than their ego.

Back to Eckhart:

"Enthusiasm means there is deep enjoyment in what you do, plus the added element of a goal or vision that you work towards. This is why Ralph Waldo Emerson said that, 'Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiasm."

Careful, now, all of you rigid character structures! Having a goal/vision is not the same as having expectations, which are a function of the ego. 

Like Hendricks' "Zone of Genius," in which inspiration is the driving force, Tolle's enthusiasm is what I would describe as a "calling," a goal, in other words, that pulls you towards it, not a destination that you direct yourself towards with willfulness for the sake of inflating and supporting the ego and mask. In this place, you are at once surrendered, joyful and living your highest excitement, while expressing fully your generativity and benefitting everyone around you.

So, carve yourself into that flute, folks, and live your highest joy! 

Do that now, too!!