“It is misleading to say that somebody ‘chose’ a dysfunctional relationship or any other negative situation in his or her life. Choice implies consciousness — a high degree of consciousness.
Without consciousness, you have no choice.
Choice begins the moment you disidentify from the mind and its conditioned patterns, the moment you become present. Until you reach that point, you are unconscious, spiritually speaking.
Unconsciousness means that you are compelled to think, feel, and act in certain ways according to the conditioning of your mind. That is why Jesus said: ‘Forgive them, for they know not what they do.’
This is not related to intelligence in the conventional sense of the word. I have met many highly intelligent and educated people who were also completely unconscious, which is to say completely identified with their minds. In fact, if mental development and increased knowledge are not counterbalanced by a corresponding growth in consciousness, the potential for unhappiness and disaster is very great.
Nobody chooses dysfunction, conflict, and pain. Nobody chooses insanity. They happen because there is not enough presence in you to dissolve the past, not enough light to dispel the darkness. You are not fully here. You have not quite woken up yet. In the meantime, the conditioned mind is running your life.
If you are run by your mind, although you have no choice you will still suffer the consequences of your unconsciousness, and you will create further suffering. You will bear the burden of fear, conflict, problems, and pain. The suffering thus created will eventually force you out of your unconscious state.
When you surrender to what is and so become fully present, the past ceases to have any power.
You do not need it anymore. The realm of Being, which had been obscured by the mind, then opens up. If you abide in this state of acceptance, you create no more negativity, no more suffering, no more unhappiness. You then live in a state of nonresistance, a state of grace and lightness, free of struggle.
Suddenly, a great stillness arises in you, an unfathomable sense of peace. And within that peace, there is great joy. And within that joy, there is love.
Presence is the key. The Now is the key.”
The Power Of Now – A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment, Eckhart Tolle, pgs. 221 – 229.
