Walter Doyle Staples, PhD, has been changing lives for more than 30 years. His journey into self-discovery began as a young adult when he suffered from stress, anxiety, and depression, then methodically went about finding ways to overcome the negativity. Having succeeded, he went on to become an Air Force officer, a career diplomat, a corporate executive, a college professor, a professional speaker, and a respected author. Walter teaches worldwide, speaking to clients in business, government, nonprofits, healthcare, law enforcement, the military, and academia. His other best-selling books include Think Like A Winner (more than 200,000 copies sold), In Search of Your True Self, and May The Healing Begin. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

CHAPTER 1

PART 1

Knowing About the Now

What is a "pure" thought, one without ego?

It is a non-thought, a direct experience.

So what is a direct experience?

It's an experience in the moment, in stillness, in Now.

Here you are able to access and come to know "pure," untainted awareness. Here, and only here, you come to know your Self.

"To Think" or "Not to Think," That Is the Question

Accept the present moment — yes, this very instant — fully and unconditionally, and with gratitude. This will put you at ease with your surroundings and connect you to your higher Self.

In Part 1, our focus is on the present moment, the precious present, or Now (all of these terms are interchangeable). The goal is to see how you can use your mind in different ways to get the optimum results.

The Now

In Now, we have seen that you can think about the past, the present, or the future, but in a very real sense the past has never been and the future never will be. Both have happened (the past) or can happen (the future) only in Now. Forget about your past; it happened only to teach you important lessons to better equip you to be in Now. Forget about your future; it will happen by default anyway as you practice Being in the present.

Being — uniting with your eternal essence in the moment — is where all your joy is; it is how you can be fully human and intensely alive. To do otherwise is to only know the ego better, and the ego has nothing to teach you. It has no joy, only pain, to share with you. Its only role is to prevent you from coming to know who and what you are, from discovering your Source. The ego is the great pretender. It wants you to think that you are it and it is you. In fact, its very existence and power over you depend on it.

Knowing Your Options

Let's summarize the different ways you can use your mind. The first is the "active" mode of thinking, the usual cognitive process that involves a series of compulsive, often-repetitive thoughts that you use to get through each day. The second, often misunderstood and seldom used, is the "passive" mode of not thinking that involves going into stillness, into silence, into no-mind. Here, in this relaxed, natural state, the goal is crystal clear: It is to not have any thoughts at all!

The first way you can use your mind, to think, is the more common way that involves such activities as perceiving, conceptualizing, rationalizing, and internalizing what you understand and believe is happening at any given moment in time (i.e., what you end up accepting as your current reality). The second, and more important way, involves using your mind to not think, which in turn allows you to access inner wisdom that points to truth.

So at any point in time, you can choose to think; this is "object" consciousness, where the mind is fully engaged. Or you can choose to not think, which is "space" consciousness, where the mind is fully disengaged. The ratio for the average person during the course of a day might be 95 percent think and 5 percent not think. The ratio for Tibetan monks, on the other hand, might be the exact opposite: 5 percent think and 95 percent not think. You need only look into the face of a Buddhist monk to see who is most at peace with himself and his world.

Critically, you need to know that there is a third option as well, indeed a more subtle and sophisticated one that combines the best elements of both approaches. In this instance, you choose to engage with, respond to, and be part of everything that is happening all around you, all the while having your mind anchored firmly in the field of conscious Presence or deep peace. Here, instead of being immersed in thought, constrained by thought, or consumed by thought, you retain an element of being in the moment, in Now (i.e., a detached, innocent observer of everything that is happening all around you). This is the ideal way, indeed the optimum way, to use your mind as it incorporates the best of both "worlds" (i.e., form and no-form) that are available to you. This is called mindful living.

"Thinking" in Now

You already are who you really are. Therefore you don't have to expend any effort to create it; you need only access it. This you can do through stillness.

Here are some characteristics concerning thinking in Now, in "object" consciousness (this is the "active" mode):

1. Lots of things are happening; thoughts are always being generated.

2. Some things are fine; others are not.

3. Most of your thoughts are goal-oriented (possibilities and probabilities), and almost always driven by the ego.

4. Everything is changing (i.e., things are incomplete and impermanent, always in a state of flux).

5. There is always some suffering going on.

6. Thinking here is shallow/limited versus deep/unlimited.

This is the confused, corrupted state of "self" consciousness.

"Not Thinking" in Now

Alternately, here are some characteristics concerning not thinking in Now, in "space" consciousness (this is the "passive" mode):

1. Nothing is happening; few if any thoughts are being generated.

2. Everything is fine.

3. There is no goal-oriented activity in your mind at all.

4. Nothing changes (i.e., everything is complete and permanent).

5. There is never any suffering going on.

6. Thinking here is deep/unlimited versus shallow/limited;

7. Through revelation, you come to understand many things about your Self, including your Source — indeed the Oneness of your actual Being. The true meaning of all this resides within you, in universal mind, and can be accessed only through no-mind.

This is the clear, uncorrupted state of "pure" consciousness.

Regarding your ability to think or not think when using your mind, we see there are certain — and indeed very different — benefits that apply to each one. Arguably the most important benefit of all is the fact that when you engage regularly in not thinking, in stillness, spiritual truths and inner knowings are unwittingly, anonymously, and spontaneously made known to you; who and what you are, are revealed to you. Hence once you know these aspects of your Being, you have been set free; the thick veil of confusion and illusion has been lifted. You can now think, feel, and act in accordance with your Self, and not in accordance with some incomplete, inaccurate, or distorted version of it.

Exploring the Dimensions of a New Consciousness

Because most people spend more than 95 percent of each day actively doing and less than 5 percent actually being, it should be no...