A New Earth...."enlightenment?"

A have just read a very important books for my life:  A New Earth by Eckart Tolle.  Now when this book was really popular a couple of years ago because of Oprah, I just brushed it off (I think I have a real problem doing the "popular" thing.)  But I just picked it up at the thrift store the other day because it was on a reading list by Oliver Demille.  Although, my "doctrine" and his are not the same, the overall philosophy and spirit of the book is deeply life changing.

Two points:  Ego - that voice inside your head that incessantly thinks, and is always trying to protect your percieved identity through forms, or material goods and ideas.  Our individual and collective egos are the main cause of contention and dissatisfaction in our lives.  Ego forces us to never live in the current moment, which ultimately is all there really is for us.  Ego wants us to always look forward to the grandiose of becoming, achieving, obtaining, purchasing something more....or stuck in the past replaying history.  As humans we will have a really difficult time ever completely ridding ourselves of ego, but just being aware of it begins to erode its hold.

Present moment - always stay consciously in the present.  If you are doing anything, whether perceived to be mundane or important...focus on it, feel it, see it, hear it, live it.  This doesn't preclude planning:  but be totally present when you are planning, do it with purpose.  This will open up excellence in your life, maybe even answer the question of quality from a previous post with Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintanence.  It connects so well with another of my favorite life-changing statements:  from Our Town by Thornton Wilder.  "Mama, just look at me, really look at me like you see me."