Die Before You Die

I've revisited a classic known to so many by Eckhart Tolle, "The Power of Now."  I wish he had simply titled it "The Now" and kept power out of the conversation, but that might be a different topic for another day.  I didn't get beyond chapter two before my wheels starting spinning again and I was becoming stuck.  Here's the quote that sunk deeply into my being: The secret of life is to die before you die and find there is no death.  Huh?  Once I moved ahead the "huh" part kept resurfacing.  That's what Tolle does to his readers. 

I'm glad, though, to recognize that it sunk into my being and not into my brain.  The Power of Now isn't a brain book.  It's a "being" book to be consumed by the gut and that all-important organ just above the gut. My brain turns to die before you die into an esoteric nothing.  But at a deeper lever, when I can drop it lower into my being, it's secret is revealed.  Life is revealed because death is revealed.  The secret of life, Tolle's hook that reeled me in, is revealed.  

I used to enjoy conversation in places where I didn't have to "check my brain at the door."  I recall seeing actual signs at entrances that said so.  At this point in my life I would love to see a new sign: "Brain check. Take a number."  Reside for a while in the vacuous absence of questions.  Expose the secret to life. I suppose Tolle would call it "the now."  His is a good book to check in with periodically.