.
TWO of my favourite life philosophers (gurus) are Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie.
When you combine the knowledge and the wisdom of the two of them it is like putting a match to dynamite but in a positive way.
Both can be extremely helpful but when you combine them the results can be positively explosive.
Last week I wrote about the power that comes from living in the Present (The Power of Now) which is basically the work of Eckhart Tolle.
‘Loving What Is’ i.e loving the reality of the present moment (warts and all) is predominately the work of Byron Katie and one of her signature books is or the same title.
Loving what is, is essentially, loving the reality of the present moment without exception and using that love to allow our creativity to grow. In essence loving life’s difficulties.
To put this in a nutshell it is all about true acceptance.
The reality of a situation still holds true whether we like it or not so we may as well start with acceptance. Acceptance may not be easy but it is always easier than non- acceptance.
This is very appropriate at the present moment where practically ever country in the world and practically every person is consumed with the Covid 19 Virus.
So what happens when we test the work (advice) of the above mentioned gurus. Live in the Now – well all we have is ‘The Now’ and it will help prevent worry or anxiety by not living in the future or the past.
Loving what is — Now that perhaps a little more tricky – Roger, with true respect how can we possibly love the corona virus?
Well —– What if we looked at the corona virus as a teacher – what is the teacher telling us?
Here are some ideas and I’m sure you can add many more.
• It’s telling us that mankind isn’t totally in control of what is happening in the world. Sometimes the world dictates to us.
• It’s telling us that good health is truly wealth and that without it we have nothing.
• It’s telling us to show gratitude to our doctors, nurses and health staff who are daily putting their lives at risk to save life.
• It’s telling us that education comes in many forms and that we will appreciate our teachers more and open new opportunities for learning
• It’s telling us to slow down.
• It’s telling us how much we love the world we live in and how much we miss enjoying all it brings.
• It’s telling us that we should learn to respect our planet more.
• It’s telling us that everything isn’t all about business, and that in fact the health and • happiness of out love ones is of far more importance.
• It’s telling us that small things make us happy.
• It’s telling us to laugh and play more.
• It’s telling us how connected we all are and how we really miss that true connectivity. No computer can replace a real hug or a kiss.
• It’s creating an opportunity to spend more quality time with our children.
• It’s telling us how much we are looking forward to getting back to that real connectivity.
• It’s warning us that when we do go back we have to treat our world and each other with far more love and respect or otherwise we are going to repeat our mistakes
• It’s giving our environment a much needed rest (Build on this)
• It’s telling us that we should respect, love and learn from the teacher
So ‘Loving What Is’ is loving an appreciating all that life can throw at us – good and bad, and using that knowledge to develop us all into better human beings.
The only tough question to ask here is; Will we learn?
‘Stormy seas make a good sailor’
P.S. I write this article with full respect for all the people who have died or who have suffered as a result of this Covid 19 virus. I believe the greatest tribute we can give them is to learn and change our ways to the benefit of all.
