Spiritual Enlightenment

In today’s world of chaos sometimes we forget to take a moment for ourselves to breathe. After the stress of midterms Nadine and I have decided this week to rejuvenate both our minds and our bodies. I have been reading a book titled “A New Earth: Awakening to your life’s purpose by Eckhart Tolle. This book is a great read. I am not finished with the book yet, but I would like to share with you some of the messages I have read about thus far. One of clichés that we would like to consider ourselves a part of is that of popularity. Eckhart Tolle writes about how it is hard for this idea to overcome and how at times we become too obsessed with our egos. Tolle writes “The word ‘I’ embodies the greatest error and the deepest truth, depending on how it is used. In conventional usage, it is not only one of the most frequently used words in the language, but also one of the most misleading. In normal everyday usage ‘I’ embodies the primordial error, a misconception of who you are, an illusory sense of identity. This is the ego.”

With those words in mind, what I think is important to think about this week is what things are you doing in life simply to stroke your ego? What things can you take out that might seem meaningful at the time but when looked at on a more profound level are mere objects of our consumer-obsessed society. Just take this week to evaluate what is most important for you to achieve in school and life and block out that internal voice that is always telling you to be what others want. We encourage you to take some time for yourself, maybe hop on a treadmill or listen to some calming music—just get some alone time and reflect. It’ll be nice.

Also, Nadine and I have decided that this week we are doing a body cleanse to rid ourselves of toxins. Although it will be tough, we have decided to take out sugar, gluten, caffeine, and animal products. Wish us luck on your journey! Until next time (make sure to come back in about a week because we will have video footage uploaded about some of our experiences here at OU) Have a safe but happy Halloween!
Peace and love.
-Bethany