Pretend for a moment...

Reading through here a bit, what I get is a sense of a lot of things to do. Lots of things to achieve, a better person to become, lots of activity. There's nothing wrong with this, it's just all the noise and activity can create confusion, a lot of unnecessary inner turmoil. Lots of noise and activity, and thoughts that I need to grow and become more, become better - it can create confusion and cover up the simplicity of the present moment. It's probably one of, if not the most important thing to make primary in your life. To remember to return your attention to Now. The present moment, Now, is always simple. And being aware of this moment - the background of stillness, silence, emptiness - keeps your emotional and mental state balanced. You're always at peace, feeling content. There are no worries, no fears and no problems here.

No matter what is happening in your life, no matter what you need to strive for and achieve, it's important to always be aware of the background of stillness that is here in this moment.

This keeps you grounded in presence. And it makes you very simple, not overcomplicated and filled with inner turmoil and mental noise. It makes life very simple. You don't get lost in the busy-ness of the world. No matter what is happening in the world around you, you're always living from a place of peace and contentment. A place where there is no fear and no worry.

I'm going to start leaving some simple pointers and reminders here in this thread. You can come back here for reminders on how to clear your inner space, clear up the emotions and mental activity that a busy life can create.

No matter what you choose to do in your life, what you choose to strive for and achieve -- you can always be aware of the background of your experience. The stillness, silence, presence of this moment. And when you're aware of the background, your actions become more powerful and your thoughts become clearer and more intelligent. But if you aren't aware of the background, the simplicity of the present moment, trapped in constant mental chattering, creating lots of inner emotional turmoil - your actions and thinking become weaker and less effective.

No matter what is happening in the foreground of your life - the things you do and experience - you can always be aware of the background of your experience at the same time. The foreground is always changing, coming and going, temporary experiences arising and fading. But the background of your experience is unchanging. The space of presence has always been here. The foreground is always changing, but the background of your experience is your constant companion.

Being aware of this grounds you in presence. You live from a place of peace and contentment. A place where no discord or negativity can exist for long. Combine that with a subtle appreciation and gratitude for the simplicity of the present moment, you'll find your life just automatically fills with abundance and good things, with very little effort on your part. I don't know why exactly it works this way, but it just does. But as always it's your choice: you can choose to live from a place of inner turmoil and mental activity where life tends to become unhelpful and difficult, or live from a place of inner peace and contentment, where life tends to become helpful and friendly.

This is not to say that life is supposed to be easy all the time. Life is not here to make you happy. There will always be difficulties and challenges that appear in your life. But how you respond to those challenges is ultimately your choice. You can choose to resist the present moment, or you can accept the present moment. You resist when you think or feel, "This shouldn't be happening! I don't like this! I don't want this! I want something else. I don't want the present moment, I want to be somewhere else." All negativity is resistance to the present moment. All it takes is a simple choice to Accept What Is. Instead of inner resistance to a challenging situation, you bring an inner acceptance to it. Then you deal with it, from a place of inner balance rather than inner turmoil.

Just bring your attention to the background of your experience. The empty space of this present moment. The silence and stillness of the Now. You don't have to become silent, still or empty. Just notice the silence, stillness, emptiness that is already here.

There's no effort in this.

This is your natural state.

Hey man I really loved your success mindset thread from a few years back. I've reread it a few times and even though I've been listening to Tolle and meditating for a few years now, those gratitude exercises (along with giving everyone a secret blessing that you see) have helped improved my daily life tons. I haven't been able to do the full 15 min for the gratitude exercises quite yet, but i have been doing them throughout the day and I instantly feel good for long periods of time afterwards.

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Hey thanks man, glad you found value from that. Yeah I also still read or listen to Eckhart. I still read through A New Earth and The Power of Now on a continual basis, just reading one or two sections almost everyday. When I'm done with one I go onto the next and so on. Also being introduced to Mooji has made things effortless. If you haven't listened to him, I'd recommend watching some videos on youtube.

Really, the best way to practice gratitude is to just be present in this moment. Not lost in useless thinking, allowing the mind to chatter on endlessly for no reason at all, but to simply pay attention to your own stillness, your own aware presence. Pay attention to the stillness and emptiness that is already here in the background at all times. No matter what is happening around you, how much activity or noise there is, underneath it all you can sense a stillness and silence that is much vaster than the activity and movement.

Anyway, pay attention to that instead of letting the mind go on endlessly all day long. There's a subtle emanation of peace, joy, appreciation here. There's a sense of gratitude and appreciation here for no particular reason at all. When you give attention to Now, there's a subtle appreciation and gratitude that is here all the time. Even if you are lacking on the outer level of your life, or there is unhappiness, underneath that you are still at peace within your own sense of stillness, awareness. Still an appreciation for the simplicity of the present moment.

This is the easy way to feel grateful all the time, and when you feel grateful often, the situations and circumstances in your life tend to shift and change to reflect that energy. Abundance just seems to find its way into your life with no effort on your part.

Just pay attention to the background sense of effortless empty space that is here and has always been here. There is nothing to do here, nothing to achieve or overcome. Only be. You are already at peace and totally content with what is. Eckhart calls this living in a surrendered state of consciousness. "It's impossible to be unhappy for very long, when you don't mind being unhappy."

And besides the continual sense of appreciation, I still remind myself at times to just feel good, to be grateful. Grateful and thankful for no particular reason at all. Just grateful and thankful. Grateful for being. Grateful for awareness itself. Grateful for this temporary experience of life in a physical body. Because in a few years, five years or eighty years, we'll all be dead. There's really no point getting involved in the mind's drama and problem making. Our time here is temporary. Enjoy it while it lasts. And in fact the best thing you can do with your time, is to discover freedom from the mind. This is ultimately our purpose for even being here. "There is only one thing of absolute importance in life, and that is your connectedness with being."

-You fall in love with being, through Gratitude.
-It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.
-Gratitude for the present moment and the fullness of life now is true prosperity.
-When you are in a state of gratitude for what is... that is really what being wealthy means.
-When you smile at a stranger, there is already a minute outflow of energy. You become a giver. Ask yourself often, 'What can I give here; how can I be of service to this person, this situation?' You don't need to own anything to feel abundant, although if you feel abundant consistently, things will certainly come to you. Abundance comes only to those who already have it. It sounds almost unfair, but of course it isn't. It is a universal law. Both abundance and scarcity are internal states that manifest as your reality. Jesus puts it like this: 'For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.'
-Being rich/wealthy is being in touch with the fullness of life. When you are open to the present moment, what comes in, is a gratitude for "what is". When you are aligned with the present moment, there is a peace that comes, so it is like you are experiencing life for the first time, when you become present. When you are in a state of gratitude for what is... that is really what being wealthy means.
-Acknowledging the good that is already in your life is the foundation for all abundance.
-Gratefulness for what is there is one of the most powerful tools for creating what is not yet there. What does gratefulness mean? It means you appreciate what is. You value, you give attention to, you honor whatever is here at this moment.

As you move about your life, can you be aware of the Stillness in the background at all times? Being aware of Stillness, Peace in the background at all times is your Natural State. The unnatural state is to be disconnected from that.

Yeah man why don't you hit them up with a crash course in cryptocurrency? You don't necessarily have to go into the whole "BUY GOLD NOW!" thing but your understanding of of crypto would be valuable to everyone

Yeah that's not a bad idea. I'll find some time and write up a crash course on crypto. But yes, it's pretty important right now to ¡BUY GOLD AND SILVER! while it's still cheap. You can thank me later when all of western civilization has fallen into the greatest economic depression in history due to socialist authoritarian idiocy. I could be wrong here, and I would love to be wrong here, but unfortunately I don't think I'm wrong here. And because gold and silver will never be worthless, you have almost nothing to lose with a huge upside potential by simply being prepared.

Keeping Quiet vs. Effortless Silence: A Distinction

I don't meditate. I suppose I do some sort of meditation practice at times by just doing nothing and not thinking about anything. But a meditation practice is not necessary. If you do meditate, there's nothing wrong with that. But a meditation practice does not replace the most important thing which is to bring presence into your everyday life.

When I say bring presence into your everyday life, I don't mean to use effort or do something unnatural. Just do whatever it is that you normally do, but have awareness at the same time. Most people lack awareness. Actually, awareness is always here, it just gets covered up by endless, fruitless thinking of the mind. The thinking mind covers up awareness of the present moment, and most people are constantly lost in thought throughout their day. They're only conscious enough of their physical surroundings to not bump into furniture.

I'm not a huge fan of effort or practices. They are probably helpful, but a formal meditation practice is not something I've ever stuck to for very long. The moment it feels like effort to me, like I'm doing something unnatural, it doesn't work. Ultimately, all practices and techniques need to be dropped. This is one of the biggest lessons I've learned over the years with regards to presence.

There's no effort in being. When I tell you to leave your mind aside and just be here, to be, is not an effort to be carried out. You already are.

To simply be here doesn't require an effort. You don't have to do anything in particular. Just be here, as you are. Empty of unnecessary thinking. Leaving aside your thoughts about the past, and leaving aside your thoughts about the future. Even leaving aside your thoughts about the present moment - your ideas, opinions and judgments. Leave all these things aside and be completely empty. There's nothing to think about right now. Only be here and now, wherever you are.

And most importantly, no waiting. Don't wait for something to happen. Don't expect anything. Just be empty.

You are simply here. Empty. Aware. Present. There's no effort to be here.

As you go about your life, don't let your attention drift off into thought activity. Be fully here in this moment. Giving your attention to whatever is, or whatever you happen to be doing. Don't be lost in thought at the same time.

To stabilize yourself here, you can pay attention to the background of empty space. Don't try to do anything unnatural, like try to be empty or still or silent. Just notice the emptiness, stillness, silence that is already and always here in the background at all times. This sense of stillness and silence in the background is your own conscious presence. It is who you are in your essence - before you picked up the thinking mind and identified with your thoughts. Before you picked up the idea that "I am a person", you already are. Consciousness itself. Consciousness comes before thought. When you know yourself as this, presence becomes effortless.

Do whatever it is you do in your life, but have awareness at the same time. Don't drift off into unconscious thought while you do what you do. Your thinking will become clearer and more effective in this way. Not constantly thinking about the past or your problems. If you have to, give some time in your day to think about your problems, ten or fifteen minutes, then return your attention to the present moment. Be aware of your own sense of being.

The new way of consciousness is to live predominantly in the present moment, and paying brief visits to thinking as required. Whereas the old way of consciousness was to be entirely engaged in thought and activity, while paying brief visits to presence.

No effort. Stay away from effort. Practices and techniques may be helpful at first, but these also need to be dropped... sooner better than later.

We don't do hard work. We only do easy and feeling good.

"The joy of being, is the joy of being conscious."