The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

Why do we all feel that something is missing? We feel discontent, unworthy, anxious, depressed, ashamed, and sometimes plain bored. Why do we suffer in these ways, and what can we do about it? Strangely enough, this small book holds the answers. It is a well-drawn map to freedom. I have read it four times, and each time it resonates as deeply as if I had written it myself - for me. I have also read many other similar books from the “self-help” shelf, but none of them do what this book does. Each reading, I understand more fully, and I walk away challenged to embody the lesson. Each time I become … more. This book transformed my life. Critics of this book claim it is full of “New Age,” woo-woo cliches. They’re right, in a way, although fear not: you will find no mention of crystals, astrology, or spirits here. The eclecticism and self-spirituality of the New Age movement inspired many to comb through world religions, mystic teachings, depth psychology, and philosophy to dig up gems of wisdom and free them of their dogma. I view this book as the culmination of their work. The result is a practical application of mysticism, drawn heavily from Zen, Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, and Gnosticism. Tolle compares his teachings most closely with those of Ramana Maharshi and Jiddu Krishnamurti, but what he delivers is uniquely authentic, insightful, and profound. We are not our mind. We are not our past. At our core, we are the “One Life from which all that exists derives its being.” We are the Source. All of our problems and most of our suffering stems from misplaced identification with the ego, our conditioned mental self-image, and the “pain-body,” the ego’s dark shadow of remembered pain. There are various methods we can use to shed this delusion: be intensely present in the Now, surrender full to what is, witness our thoughts to disidentify from the mind, and focus on the energy field of the “inner body.” In fact, to accomplish any of these tasks is to accomplish them all. And when we do, we experience stillness, peace, joy, love, and more. ”Imagine a ray of sunlight that has forgotten it is an inseparable part of the sun and deludes itself into believing it has to fight for survival and create and cling to an identity other than the sun. Would the death of this delusion not be incredibly liberating?” ”When you are transformed, your whole world is transformed, because the world is only a reflection.”

This book enlightened me. I loved it so much I will be reading it again. It gives insight on how to rid your thoughts; that consume you and learn to live in the now. In the moment.

I love Eckhart Tolle, thus below my comments reflect my passion for his teachings. As you know everything is relative, in this case, my review is relative to my personal experience. The most profound book I have ever read. Finally I have touched the depth of consciousness. When you are ready, you may understand it. Otherwise, it may be a heavy book. It's like giving a computer book to a technology savvy versus someone that is not familiar with computers. I have also read every other book of this author. I find this book to be the starting book into the author philosophy. This book will help you understand other books that may be more difficult without this base knowledge such as The New Earth. There are several other spiritual teachers, but this Author is the only one that is truly effective that contains substance making a difference in my life. Other authors always leave me with nothing, lot's of words that don't lead anywhere. This book was given to me from a friend and it was the best experience ever that changed my life. I am glad she pushed me to start reading it, because I kept it on my bookshelf for weeks. Once I started reading it I was astonished and since then my life changed, my eyes were opened. However, not everyone is ready to understand. I have tried sharing it with some other people, but not everyone was able to read it. Since my background of meditation, spirituality, and introspection, this book came easy to read and understand. For me this book was the missing block from my spiritual path. Thanks Eckhart Tolle for helping humans make it to the next stage of consciousness. Good luck and I hope that anyone coming across this book is ready to discover the realm of non-thinking, non-judging, non-labeling. I would say, this is a non-mystical, clear understanding of what's behind religions. This can help any person to understand more their religious/spiritual path. The book is neutral, it doesn't favor any religion over another. It brings everything together into one as it should be. My message to everyone: Gaining more knowledge doesn't make people wise. Wisdom should be developed in pair with knowledge. Too much thinking stresses you out. Practice meditation. Discover the ego in you (we all have it), but you don't have to listen to it. The mind wants to think taking you away from what you are currently doing. Be aware of compulsive-recurring thoughts that are draining your energy. You should be able to stop the flow of thoughts, regain energy, feel at peace, in between daily tasks. This will bring wisdom in your actions. Otherwise, stress can only led you to poor results, poor performance, poor outcome. Empower yourself with gaps of non-thinking, which will make you experience FREEDOM. That's were you can find freedom, in your head only. It's nice to stop the mind flow of thoughts. You'll feel light, free, happy, and worry-free. Otherwise, your mind keeps generating thoughts causing you to be slave of recurring/compulsive thinking. That's why people drinks or get drugs (legal and illegal), to experience freedom from your mind that never stop stressing you out. Alcohol causes more issues than benefits, same as some drugs. Learn how to become free from your mind and from addictions. Then you can start enjoy life and express yourself at your full potential. This book is a pointer to freedom. Here is the door, can you open it and discover what's in it?

Slow read but good read

One word summary for the book- “Consciousness“. To be honest, it was a toss-up for the one word summary. The other option was “Heavy”. This was my second or third time through the book in an attempt to grasp more of it. I had started about two years ago, and couldn’t wrap my awareness around some of it, so the book collected some dust. I tried again last month and finally, success in getting through it with a moderate understanding and feeling in resonance of it. (But that only demonstrates where I am in relation to his ideas, you are in a different place on the path, of course.) Tolle covers all the topics that most of us want to understand a little more. Fear is really only a construct of the past or future. The Ego plays tricks on you into thought processes that do not support your NOW moment. The illusionary sense of your thoughts and thinking. Most of all, he discusses how to live with an inner-awareness, that is deeper than what we’ve become trained to see. The emergence of our higher self is the key to enjoying and living in the NOW. We must give up the notion that we are the one doing or watching something. We are the essence of consciousness that is watching the watching or doing. (Heavy, I know.) Your level of happiness rests only on your level of awareness. Who is in between the thoughts that is rushing around in your brain? The idea reminded me of some Buddhist teachings about Illusion and releasing of Self and Mindfulness. Ironically, I think it because of his negative surroundings while growing up, that Tolle’s focus on a “Pain Body” exists in his writing. I definitely picked up a heavy residual experience there, which I had a difficult time connecting to. Maybe I’ll “feel” it the next time I re-read the book. Some real “Enlightments” that really lit up my own path were: “People carry too much residual resistance, too much fear, too much attachment to sensory experience, too much identification with the manifested world.” “Your primary task is not to seek salvation through creating a better world, but to awaken out of identification with form.” on death – “it’s only tragic because you projected a separate self where there was none. You got hold of a fraction of a dynamic process, a molecular dance, and mad a separate entity out of it.” “It is through the world and ultimately through you that the Unmanifested knows itself. You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold.” The Power of NOW is an incredibly empowering and “self”-evaluating book. It’s always great to read and learn and interupt the processes that you currently have in your life, and then try a few new ones. Tolle offers plenty of ideas that may help release “perceptions” that are holding you down in fear and attachment to impermanent conditions that your mind shows you. You are not your personal history, you are deeper than that. In Tolle’s own words, “Let me show you how to go more deeply into what you already have.” I believe he does a great job of this, and I definitely appreciate his insights. The book is definitely recommended for anyone seeking a calmer, deeper sense of who you are.

I used to think I had the "truth," for that is what you are raised to think in the "restored" Church of Jesus Christ (aka Mormonism), where the fullness of Christ’s teachings and life’s “big secrets” are all revealed and available through devoutly living the faith. In spite of my former devoutly sincere living of the restored gospel as taught in LDS culture, I was more often than not in a living hell state of mind, which affected my heart with intense energy that I can only explain in words as a powerful pain body. I pleaded with the Lord for help, so naively unconcious, like a child in their 1st year of life, especially since my 17th year of absolute depression and anxiety—to depths of hell I am surprised I came out alive from. My brain had created such powerful neuropathways of belief, where I was so unconsciously naïve that even the very word consciousness was taboo and scary. Words like Empath, might have well been witchcraft. I felt so unworthy, so worthless, that just existing, as a very clean, very kind, scincere young man, was hard, for I was to repent of just being alive (no thanks to my Mormon upbringing). Everything I understood was filtered—masked by ego, and even worse, a religious ego (more dangerous than the already difficult ego) trained by false tradintions of religion (Mormonism, in my case), where men take a truth and twist it with their own "righteous" ego, which perverts the simpleness of the way to the literal Christ, Kingdom of God within, here and now, not just some future date of achieved worthiness. It wasn’t until I reached a point where I was genuinely ready to end my life, in my 35th year, after my wife left with the kids (not for infidelity or lack of my own desire, but both our own, unresolved, formerly Mormon egoes, which dominated our marriage in ways we would find out together later on), that I was left with me, myself, and I. At that point, the book had already been introduced to me, by my wife, but I was in a state of mind where I wasn't ready for it, or better said, my ego scoffed that a book (as I had tried others) could help me find true joy outside the scriptures (bible/book of mormon). It wasn't until I was alone, filled with high attachment anxiety (losing what I loved most and was completely attached to, my children/family), having left religion, that I first went through this book. The power within me, for the first time, shot past my mind, to my pain-body within my heart, in such a way that I literally experienced the portal of light I had once experienced in my youth—a literal portal of light (a story for another day). Then, each time I read the book, a layer of the thick and painful untruths began to be unlearned (unlearning is harder than learning, for you are literally forming new neuropathways in the brain). I listened to The Power of Now over 16 times within a few months—yes, it was that delicious to my soul, it kept showing me how to simply allow my true essence to surface, peaceful and powerful, even though I could not comprehend most of it in my then unconcious ego-mind. My brain could not make sense of it all quickly enough, but my heart—something shifted enough to let the depth of my soul surface, while I sank into the depth of my true essence, away from the surface waves of drama, circumstance, and ego. Here’s the key insight, and it’s everything: it wasn’t Eckhart, and it wasn’t the book. It was me. Sounds selfish, but the true you inside is the Christ. Literally, Jesus brings us to the Christ—our true identity within—to be healed fully. The Christ brings us to the Kingdom of Heaven within, ultimately to the Father, which is all symbolic of the reality that each of our soul-bodies is a Kingdom of Heaven, here and now. No book or teacher can save you—only you can awaken you. The Holy Spirit (your spirit) leads you (your true self leads you) to the Christ, which points you to Heaven, for today is literally the day of your salvation—but for reals, not just in religious speak and belief—for NO BELIEF IS REQUIRED. Just be still and know that I am God. This book pointed me toward the door, and for the first time, I stepped through it—for reals. For decades, I chased the “easy yoke” and “light burden” Christ spoke of—honestly, 35 years of searching—and it always felt just out of reach. Then one day, it became real. Tangible. Living. Because the peace, the freedom, the salvation I’d been waiting—taught to climb for (in Mormon theology, it’s twisted to mean worthiness in tithe-required gaudy temples)—wasn’t hiding in some future heaven. It was right here, right now, within. The “Kingdom of Heaven” really is inside you, and once you glimpse it—once it surfaces (because it’s already there)—you’ll wonder how you ever missed it. To those who claim this book is “anti-Christ,” I say this with love: that’s the ego talking, wearing religious clothing. Be still. Do one of the many exercises—especially the body scan—the author invites you to practice. The irony couldn’t be thicker. I’ve never known Christ more intimately than when I finally allowed myself to meet Him directly—without the conditioning, the fear, and the image of a punitive “god” (lowercase g) I grew up with, the false traditions of the fathers of religion clouding the simplicity of the way, the straightness of the path, the easy yoke and light burden of Christ, absent the false requirements of "worthiness" interviews, tithings, etc. Everything that is real naturally arises when we are in our true Kingdom of Heaven within. Christ walks with you, for you become like Him (“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect”). This book belongs in every school library—not as a sermon, but as a mirror. It should be discussed, debated, and wrestled with—because belief isn’t required to access what’s already within you. Read it not as doctrine, but as a pointer—a whisper back to the stillness that Christ Himself described: the living presence of “I Am.” The irony in just that statement—“I Am”—has the “become as little children” laughing at its simplicity. No, The Power of Now isn’t an end in itself. It’s evidence that there is a higher, loving intelligence—call it God, Source, Being—that flows through everything and everyone. That power isn’t mocked, and it doesn’t play favorites. All are loved. All are light. All are already whole, even beneath our human pain, conditioning, or perceived flaws. Now I see clearly how cult-like certain religious systems can become—not because the people are bad, but because the structures teach us to look out there for what has always been in here. I’m finally learning what it means to be free, to live awake, and to experience life—not as a test to pass, but as a sacred unfolding. Truly, we can do as Jesus said—“He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:12) What?! Do more than He has done? That’s not blasphemy—that’s the fullness of the gospel. It’s the living truth of what happens when we awaken to the Christ within. For today—literally today—is the day of our salvation, not someday in a distant afterlife, not when we’ve “earned” worthiness, but right now, in presence. I hope to share my stories in animated form on my channel boxels on YT or come say hi on x with my same justachilldad, and lets move towards the absense of the greed of wall st which is a typification of the ego unchecked, without grace and humility or meekness. The future is bright, but to get there, we must stand on the precipice of the greatest darkness next to the greatest light. The good news is darkness does not comprehend the light, the people of the world (I literally have mingled with people since, of every nation, in one of the darkest spaces of crypto (a story for another day) are waking up, desiring conciousness over unconcious for-profit deadness of our current system.

This book, and its author, Eckhart Tolle, have changed my life for the better! (It's going to be hard to keep this review short.) I started reading this book after I went through a very tough time in my life. In late 2018, I was introduced to a kind of yoga practice. The first step in the practice is to finish an online course and practice a few stretching exercises, basic breathing exercises and chanting. It probably works fine for most people, but in my case, it messed me up big time! I started having trouble controlling my energies, lost sleep (just sleeping 2 or 3 hours a night) and was working like crazy at job... Then I went manic. Though I wanted to stop the yoga practice, I couldn't. It was like a drug at that time! I started talking too much at home and work. People started getting scared of me, since I was pointing out things from their lives that they were themselves only peripherally aware of. I eventually lost my job and almost lost my family too! It took me a few months to realize what had just happened. After that manic phase, I went into severe depression. I had no job, a very strained relationship with my wife, and was blaming myself incessantly. I also stopped the yoga practice around this time. A few months later, when I realized I couldn't handle it myself, with the help and support of my wife, I went to a psychiatrist... and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder... (I now know through this book that all illnesses are just temporary situations to deal with. I have no identity with the situation. The reason I am mentioning the label here is to help others who might have gotten this label, or other such labels. Right now I am on medication (200 mg daily of a mood stabilizer, called lamotrigine). I see that it helps me, for now. But I don't buy my psychiatrist's argument that I have to carry that label for the rest of my life. I was doing just fine for 40 years before the yoga practice... and the situation might change in the future. For now, I am going along with the recommended plan since it is working well and I accept it totally.) The only things that pulled me out of that deep pit was total faith in a Guru (who is not living in His body anymore) and probably, the medicine too. At that time, I had to totally lean on faith, since I had no strength myself. The ego had gotten such a heavy beating that it became extremely scared and depressed. Every moment was torturous and I could do nothing about it. I wanted to commit suicide, but having been raised with strong Hindu spiritual teachings, I knew that suicide would only temporarily postpone the inevitable, and that I would take another life and face the exact same situation. (I don't know if that is true or not; it at least prevented me from committing suicide.) This book was referred to me in December of 2018 (when I was in full blown mania) by someone whom I met at a bookstore. I knew about the book, but had never read it. The next day, I found a used copy of "The New Earth" by Eckhart for $3 in a used book store. I bought it, but couldn't read it since I didn't have any concentration. The moment I read one sentence, my mind took off and I could see where Eckhart was going... (At that time, my mind was telling me there was nothing I didn't know.) Only in November of 2019, after I went through a full cycle of mania and depression, and was slowly recovering, I borrowed a copy of "The Power of Now" from the local library and started reading it. The very first practice of "watching the thinker" was a revelation... Especially the statement Eckhart made about not judging the thoughts and just watching the mind... I was mostly aware of what was going on in my mind, but I was criticizing the mind the moment it produced what I judged as a "wrong" thought. This created a lot of suffering. It was a huge relief to me that all I need is to just watch it and be the witnessing Presence. Later, Eckhart talked about "watching the inner body" to take attention away from the mind when it's not needed. This helped me during my job interviews. I had always felt anxious about job interviews... This practice really helped me through that challenge. (I did fine in the interviews and usually got good offers, but the anxiety was so much that my palms and feet would always sweat.) The book doesn't get into the practical aspects until much later, but its message is very clear here. Separate out life situations from life itself, and deal with situations in a practical manner, doing what you can, one step at a time. And if there are things that you want to change, there are only 3 sane options: 1. walk out if you can, 2. take steps to change it, focusing on what you can do now, or 3. if neither of the above two are possible, accept the situation totally, even if only temporarily. Acceptance itself is a doorway to peace... These teachings are helping me every single time my mind starts to complain or blame. The biggest lesson I learned is to use the mind only when it is necessary, and not follow every single thought that occurs in my mind. The exercise of awareness is the toughest one I have ever done in my life! I still experience mood swings. Unfulfilled desires from the past with respect to my profession keep springing up. (The mind's imagination here is very strong.) But I know, right now, I have to just live a regular life, as a householder, be with my family and continue my current job. My mind isn't stable enough for other pursuits now, since it's constantly changing, going in circles - one day it wants to go back to graduate school, get a PhD and become a professor, next day it wants to go to a tropical island and work as a waiter (getting away from all work that requires my brain), another day it says life is wonderful as it is and how much money I would lose if I went elsewhere... With Eckhart's help, I now know that all these are just narratives of the mind. I know what's practical for my life now and what I need to be doing every hour. Just focusing on that is enough. (Let the morrow take care of itself.) Like Eckhart recommends, I am using my situation as a strong motivation to practice Presence. In my case, the situation is not external; it is extremely close to me, since it is my own mind! The suffering I experience when the mind takes me away from the Now is too much to bear. I have no choice now but to practice Presence. My current practice is to just keep my attention on what I should be doing this moment, and keep checking where my attention is. If my attention has gone astray, I don't condemn myself; I just bring it back to the Now. I find that my job keeps me sufficiently present, but at other times, when mind is not needed, I need to practice this consciously. Due to the force of habit, I frequently fall trap to following useless thoughts, but I am slowly breaking out of that bad habit. I am becoming more aware of my internal state. I also engage myself in helping my son with school work, reading, doing stock investing, writing, spending some time on Facebook, and watching TV shows and movies occasionally. Whatever keeps my mind engaged, or keeps my attention in the present, are all working just fine. Along with this book, Eckhart's videos on YouTube have also brought my attention back to the teaching. The message is the same, but every time I hear it, it's fresh! I conclude with the Zen statement from the book: "What, at this moment, is lacking?"

What a meditation in itself to listen to Eckhart Tolle on Audible in The Power of Now. This book describes a belief system based on living in the present moment, in the Now, never outside of the Now for there is where all of our human sufferings resides. None resides in the Now. The core message is that our emotional problems are rooted in our identification with the mind, the stories that our mind tells us about the past or the future. If you want to disable the mind and find that stillness, that silence in which all heavenly peace resides, you must come to the present moment. The mind, Eckhart explains, cannot function without the concept of time and that is why we are either in the past or in the future, attaching, clinging, worrying about one or the other. There is no concept of time in the Now, and that is how you cease the bickering of the mind. The format of the book is in Q&A, someone reads the questions and the author answers. I found this to be very effective in breaking down the concepts in digestible chunks and expressing the views of us the reader as if we too were having a conversation with the author. You can certainly argue with him on every point he makes, but then again, your higher awareness knows that it is your mind trying to defend its position so it can keep you hostage to its own whims and desires. Maybe it is better to let go and experience the joy and the peace that truly resides in the now. As I was finishing this book, I was vacationing in Hawaii, and while I've been on Oahu a number of times and experienced the very same beauty, I decided to emerge in it. To really see it with fresh eyes, to really be present in everything, to see if I can even glimpse into the joy and the beauty which is hidden right before our eyes because we simply do not slow down enough to see it. And I must say, I felt a sense of deep joy and constant happiness, one that I didn't even have in my previous trips even though I'd describe all of those trips as "great"!!! Eckhart's voice is slow, measured and methodical. This book is easy to follow. Most spiritual books can get complex and deep. While there are passages which I hit rewind to take in more than once, it was done in such a way that I am most grateful, because of its simplicity, I hope it will stay with me longer. A must-read if you want to free yourself of worry and anxiety. You may just hear the same message of all spiritual books in a way that it will stick, and isn't that what it's all about? For us to hear what we already know deep down in such a way that it will go deep and reach into our own divinity and allow us to let go of nonsense so we can experience peace. So much peace.