YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

I have noticed that a constant thing that Paul brings up is the idea of if you go with the universe or something you can make it easier for yourself. Something along those lines i believe. Curious as to what that means really as it just seems like some kind of pseudoscience the way its presented.

Nameless,
I know it sounds kind of nebulous and new-agey, but let me try to explain: Going with the flow to me means trying to not feel regret about the past, trying to not obsess and worry about the future, and instead try to be fully engaged in whatever I'm doing at the present time. I find that when I let my desire for future results taint what I'm doing, the quality of what I'm doing suffers. For example, if I"m doing stand-up and hoping that some big shot in the crowd is going to hire me for a future gig, my performance isn't as good as it would be if I just focused on trusting that the future will take care of itself, let go, and focus on the only thing I have control over at that moment which is whatever joke I'm delivering. Hope that makes sense. Eckhardt Tolle has written two great books about this: "The Power of Now" and "A New Earth"

Paul

Ok that clears it up a bit. I just thought mostly durring Maron and Elwood (almost typed Norton oddly) that it seemed to delve into more pseudoscience then I guess by living in the moment which you explained just now. Have to listen again as I might have had a preconcieved notion when I listened which may have threw me off.

Anyway, thanks for the reply.

Eckhardt Tolle has written two great books about this: "The Power of Now" and "A New Earth"

Mr. Gilmartin is right, these books are quite good. Eckhardt Tolle may appear New Age-y but he's actually more of a common sense mentor. Personally I'd start with "The Power of Now" because it's shorter, though if you can get fully through "A New Earth" it's totally worth it! (Perhaps getting the audiobook may help, as it did me) The books he writes are great to read from on a habitual basis so as to remind oneself of the concepts he expresses. I find myself forgetting from time to time, getting caught up in dwelling too much on the past or future, and need to go back and look at his work.

Found the Power is Now online so I will give it a listen. Let you know what i think whenever I get through it.

Well I went through a bit of the audio book and have been running into a few problems. His voice is a main one since its very bland, boring, and sounds like he is dead inside.
He seems to hold the lack of thinking in high regard which I can't agree with really as it seems a solution to that is a labotomy. Coming from ready a fair bit of Nietzsche, him talking about reaching enlightenment only brings me to Nietzsche's overman which was far beyond those ideas in general.

Another odd thing that caught me off guard was his definition of god. He did alright with that but it just seemed lacking compared to someone like Carl Sagan who did a far better job in the same amount of space.

Any reason I should continue this audio book? Or is there a version read by George Takei anywhere?

Nameless,

While I found the Power of Now to be a good book, I found it to be slow and repetitive in spots. I didn't do the audio book, so I can't comment on him as a narrator. The thing I like about A New Earth, is he shows how the ego injects itself into practically everything. He shows us how to spot it, and be aware of it, and how to quiet the mind. He explains how a quiet mind doesn't mean weakness, it means efficiency. It allows us to focus on what we have control over. The ego loves to try to control things it really can't, and that's what our minds usually spin about. Its not for everybody, but its a book that really really helped me, even though sometimes the verbiage is a little New-Agey for my taste. The underlying truths are where the gold is.

Paul

Tolle is the reader from what I gathered from the audio book and I would not suggest going that route.

I guess the book isn't for me since I am one to learn as much as possible and being idle doesn't allow that. I just don't think great things happen from someone who thinks such as he does and great things are needed to push the world forward.

Nameless,
I don't think Tolle is anti-action at all. He's anti-action when it comes to things that are born out of the ego. He's pro-action when it comes to bettering the world and ourselves in an enlightened way. HIs point is that, we often engage in a flurry of activity that is meaningless. If we examine our egos and look at why we do certain things, we will eliminate some actions, but the ones we keep, the healthy ones will now be infused with more energy, purpose, creativity, passion and less fear, greed and anger. Hope that makes sense. I'm not trying to sell you on him, I just want to clarify what I think he's about. I know he's not for everybody. A lot of time his new-Agey language gets on my nerves.

Paul

I have read this and think there is a lot of good to get out of it. I did not agree with everything, but took what I wanted out of it. I understand about how passive ways are not what makes the world move ahead. Unfortunately, egos and brutality have made the most changes in the world, but who knows if all those changes have been all that beneficial to mankind. I think it boils down to not forcing yourself upon the world in an ego based manner.

Being in the moment is the hardest task I strive for. It is so easy to be somewhere else and I sure love to future trip.