Embracing the Now: Finding Peace and Happiness in What Is

The Now—this moment—is the true source of happiness and peace and the key to living a fulfilled and meaningful life. Embracing the Now explains how to overcome the stumbling blocks to being in the Now, such as fears, doubts, judgments, misunderstandings, distrust, and desires, which contribute to human suffering. Embracing the Now will also show you how to attain the happiness, peace, and fulfillment that come from knowing who you really are.By becoming aware of what else is showing up in life in this moment besides thoughts, you can begin to really live in this moment and respond to it naturally, uncluttered by your mental commentary and the ego’s desires. You are in the moment but without the ego’s influence on it. Spiritual freedom, or liberation, is when the voice of the ego no longer dominates and colors the landscape of life. Rather, it is one small aspect of this landscape—one other thing that comes and goes within this landscape. This new way of being is the result of embracing the Now. This book by that name is a collection of essays, which can serve as daily reminders that point the way to this new way of being.“The alternative to rejecting something about the moment, which is what the ego does, is finding something to love about it. There is always something to love in every moment. Can you find a sensation, something of beauty, or a sound that is loveable? Is peace here, even just a sliver? Is love? Is contentment? Is the universe holding together? Being happy and not being happy is largely a matter of what you focus on. When you find yourself struggling against life, stop and notice what is beautiful and loveable right now. And don’t just stop with one thing; find another and another. Your life can be lived from a place of celebration and gratitude rather than from a place of rejection. It is your choice.”