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#1 Photo Products - The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
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List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $17.92
Your Save: $ 12.03 ( 40% )
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Manufacturer: New World Library
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio Cassette
Dewey Decimal Number: 291.44
EAN: 9781577311768
Format: Unabridged
ISBN: 1577311760
Label: New World Library
Manufacturer: New World Library
Number Of Items: 4
Publication Date: 2000-12-30
Publisher: New World Library
Studio: New World Library
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: You will either love it or hate it. I love it!
Comment: When I first heard about Eckhart Tolle and his "The Power of Now", I said, "Sounds like Buddhism, to me!"
I was very skeptical about Tolle because it sounded like he was just marketing Buddhism under his own name. I can see where some may still insist that this IS what he is doing. But I don't think so.
After hearing more about him I finally rented a dvd of his. I found his message indeed very "Buddhist" but with a "twist". But frankly I found his speaking style and his tendency to giggle every so often kind of annoying.
But I was intrigued enough by his message that I decided to take a look at the book. I borrowed the book from the library and began reading it.
I was very inspired by it. It was clear that here was a guy who understood on a very profound level the message of the Buddha, yet without having ever been a monk. In the preface or intro he says that one day after being depressed for a long time he just woke up. That is, he woke up and realized the power of Now and the reality of his inner being.
Despite the fact that I have studied the teachings of the Buddha for 2 years, meditated, and read many books on mindfulness and being here now, I found this book very inspiring and very clear.
In fact it excited me much more than most of the Buddhism books I have read and while it is "the same message", I think sometimes the WAY someone teaches is what counts. It's like when you're in junior high and your teacher makes the Civil War boring... deadly boring... And then one day you get a substitute teacher and he teaches you the same lessons but with so much enthusiasm and clarity and makes it Exciting to learn about the Battle of Vicksburg! ... It's all about whether or not a teacher truly KNOWS and is excited by the material, and is able to transfer that knowledge and enthusiasm for knowledge to you.
To me, Eckhart Tolle is very good at explaining the value of the Now moment and sharing the enthusiasm for it in a way that inspires me to try harder or put more attention on being present in each moment and not get hung up in the past and future, on the way things "should be", etc..
So while there is "nothing new here" (actually there is nothing new, ANYwhere!), what he have is a teacher who has the rare ability to reach people with an important teaching.
The Buddha captured the people of his time with this message, but not too many people today are interested in reading the Buddha's words. As a student of the Buddha I can tell you that his teaching style (at least as it has come down to us from the ancient Pali scriptures) does not fit our current 21st century style of learning very well. Some Buddhist monks like Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama and Ajahn Brahm have been able to regurgitate the Buddha's teachings to us in a way that is much more inspiring. But still, unless you have an interest in "Buddhism" it is unlikely you are going to study the deeper teachings of these monks.
So what Tolle has done is - just by being himself and teaching in his own style, from his own realizations - write a book (or books) that has a way of relating to the average day modern seeker of knowledge. I do not mean to imply he has diluted it or simplified it. It's just that his style is his style and it seems to resonate with people. And that's a good thing!
I would like to add that it has become clear to me that many of the people who don't like the book are not really understanding the deeper message of the book. That is, they are understanding it "intellectually" but not "getting" that it is not just a matter of "understanding" "about" the now moment, but rather it is a matter of LIVING IN THE NOW MOMENT, being PRESENT in the now moment during much or all of one's life, which is not a simple thing at all.
To illustrate this point I suggest you try the following exercise:
Sit down in a quiet place and close your eyes and focus ONLY on the present moment. Try to focus ONLY on what ever is present right now as you sit down with your eyes closed. Fair game are sounds, feelings, the feeling of your butt on the chair or floor, the feeling of air going in and out of your nose or mouth, the sound of the dog barking or bird singing in the distance, etc. etc... As soon as a thought comes in about what you did or what you are going to do or what you need to do, put it aside and try to go back to focusing only on the present moment...
As you do this I think you will see that it is VERY difficult. Thoughts come. You get the feeling you "need" to get on to doing something. More thoughts come. You feel nervous. You feel this is a waste of time. More thoughts come...
Try to get to the point where the thoughts do not overtake you, and in fact, see if you can ONLY focus on your BREATH. Try to notice ONLY your breathing, in whichever way you can do it. That is, you can focus only on the air coming in and out of your nose or mouth. Or you can notice your belly going in and out, your diaphragm rising and falling. No matter how you do it just as long as you ONLY focus on your breathing, nothing else; no other sounds, no other feelings, no other thoughts...
This is the lesson Tolle is trying to teach: being truly and completely in the present moment. There is much value in this practice as it not only shows you your mind but it helps you learn to control it, to calm it, and it teaches you great powers of concentration in the present moment which you will find very valuable in all aspects of your life, once you learn to do it with some proficiency.
So if you think "I've heard all this before" there is a good chance that you HAVE. But there is also a good chance that while you've heard it before you still haven't gotten the message. Try again. And keep trying until you "get it".
Customer Rating:
Summary: First-rate Book
Comment: Maybe we all should live in the present moment as Eckheart Tolle suggests. Its true are problems are not really affecting us right now in the "present' so why dwell on them constantly. It's hard to let go of all that brain activity and just live in the `now'. As you read the book you learn how to make those changes for a more peaceful life.
I see from reading the reviews on this site some people have recommend my book, "The Enlightenment, What God Told Me After One Million Prayers: A Message for Everyone," and again I just want them to know how much I appreciate their recommendation, especially at such a excellent site. I wrote this book out of love and for the glory of God and Jesus, not for my own fame or fortune. I welcome people to read my book, I'm sure you'll find this non-fiction account of a loving God just as positive and inspiring.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: ...with a grain of salt...
Comment: For the sake of my review, I see this book in two parts. The first is interesting, strange, helpful and also silly. Tolle does a good job of grabbing your attention with a very workable alternative to dealing with problems. As he explains it, there are no problems. All you have to do is agree with him and make them vanish from your interest.
Part two, about halfway in is when he starts stirring up his trouble. Now that he's got your attention, its time for his re-interpretations of Jesus. And they are interesting. They have merit, but most importantly, they deface the value of Tolle's message. Perhaps it was his own undying need to hold onto something of religious value... but shame on him for first discrediting religion and then rebuilding it. Can't we just get out of religion once and for all?
I put the book down before reaching the last page. I found it repetitious, unbalanced and disappointing.
As I had progressed through the first half book I found the solutions to "quieting your mind" helpful, but equally troubling as the author's philosophy tries to draw you in closer to its end-game of total peace. The problem is that he asks you to let go of not just too much, but everything you might hold dear. All cares and concerns, all of your history and ambitious speculations, you must give them all up for the promise that you don't need them. In other words, "details" are a falsehood, they have no real value. For many, maybe this is helpful. Perhaps for the person that just wants to find a way to survive through life without any sorts of conflict and obstacles this is a good solution. They can finally learn to stand aside and let the world whirl by past them. But for the other half, the go-getters and those eagerly wanting in life, Eckhart Tolle's path to perfection is flawed in the sense that his ultimate message is to "give up" in order to succeed. He seems to fail in understanding that it is "The Journey" that turns us on.
His quick jabs at the falsehoods and misguidance of all modern religion should be hailed with respect, but he destroys his validation as he begins to quote Jesus again and again.
His identification of the Ego vs. the Being, the two opposing entities of our minds that offer "idea modeling", "recall of events", "conflict" and "the use of time" for their existence are presented in a well expressed and simplified manner that should speak to just about anyone, and I found this very helpful. Also, his technique for "quieting the Ego, or mind" in its attempts to overwhelm and misdirect the "Being" away from the "Now" by always only looking back and ahead are simple, clever and productive. But to suggest that the Ego can be eradicated, and that such an accomplishment is in every individual's best interest seemed misguided to me.
Tolle has an answer for every question, skeptic and dismissal of his perspectives in this book, but that does not make him correct. He falls short by suggesting "total bliss" is the ultimate freedom. He forgets that it is also the struggle that defines us, the challenge that inspires us, and the pain that reminds us that we are human after all. I have doubt there is anything he can do to take that away from us, it is the very essence of what separates us from the animals. Time is not simple, it is real and it is complicated.
I now believe that the Ego must be kept in check (as it has a tendency to run amuck and stir all sorts of mischief), but that it is not a complete error. It is an evolutionary function that provides a balance for the brilliant potential we all have within ourselves as we look back, ahead, and into the multi-layered Now.
Customer Rating:
Summary: wow!
Comment: A really awe-inspiring book...loaded with thought- provoking words. Mr. Tolle is truly an inspiration.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The first 1/3rd is good.
Comment: The first third of this book, the one that sets up the theme to which the title refers, is good. It basically states that the majority of our pain comes from our focus on the past (guilt, regret, blame, anger etc.) or the future (stress, anxiety, worry). The only thing we can impact, and the only thing that is truly real, is the now. Tolle encourages us to focus on the present moment, and he gives us ways that we can settle our thinking mind in favor of just being in the Now.
As Tolle expands on his concept, he weaves in concepts from Eastern thought and modern meditation/philosophy, such as the Watcher (the thinker who observes our thinking mind), and the unified consciousness. But then the book devolves into New Age mumbo-jumbo as he tries to encompass everything from improving marital relationships to improving our immune systems to ending world hunger. He makes grand statements as if they're fact, without supporting them in any way, and then goes on for a page building on those statements. For example: "Even a stone has a rudimentary consciousness; otherwise, it would not be, and its atoms and molecules would disperse." Oh really? It's a psychological bond, not a physical one that holds atoms together? When I read sentences like that, it's hard not to become cynical. But let's put cynicism aside, and let's avoid the temptation to argue science vs religion, because that's not my criticism of the above statement. I'm sure there are belief systems that would support that atoms are held together by consciousness, but I'm not going to take Tolle's word for it. He needs to lay some groundwork.
He makes an attempt to incorporate different belief systems, Western and Eastern, but he does this by force-fitting bits of scripture that support his point rather than dealing with the themes of these belief systems. Trying to be holistic is good, but, again, I much prefer someone like Ken Wilber, who lays a foundation and thoughtfully creates a map of the systems.
There are also a couple of stylistic elements that I found annoying: First, the entire book is written in a question-and-answer format. I've seen this convention before, and in itself it's annoying enough, but in a few instances the "answerer" didn't even answer the question asked, or admonished the "questioner" for asking the question. Pointless. Second, Tolle has the arrogance to insert a special symbol into the text when he wants the reader to stop and, not just consider what he's said, but to "become still, and feel and experience the truth of what has just been said." Give me a break. (By my estimation, he greatly over-uses the symbol.)
But my biggest beef is that the last two-thirds of the book reads like the underpinnings of The Celestine Prophesy. Tolle takes what is a great premise at the beginning, then bogs it down with unnecessary chapters of New Age jibber-jabber. One example: "When you are fully present and people around you manifest unconscious behaviors, you won't feel the need to react to it, so you don't give it any reality. Your peace is so vast and deep that anything that is not peace disappears into it as if it had never existed. This breaks the karmic cycle of action and reaction. Animals, trees, flowers will feel your peace and respond to it."
It's unfortunate that Tolle finishes the book with this kind of stuff, because the first part has some great, concrete and original thinking.
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Editorial Reviews:
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The Power of Now is a guide to spiritual awakening from a man who is emerging as one of this generation’s clearest, most inspiring teachers on the subject. Eckhart Tolle is not aligned with any particular religion but does what all the great masters have done: shows that the way, the truth, and the light already exist within each human being. There is no need to look elsewhere. At the heart of the book is Tolle’s own story of early despair that culminated in a life-transforming experience of enlightenment at the age of 29. He emerged to share insights on the perils of the mind, the power of the present, and the accessibility of one’s true nature. According to Tolle, “To regain awareness of Being and to abide in that state of ‘feeling-realization’ is enlightenment.” “A reminder to be truly present in our own lives.... The result? More joy, right now.” — O: The Oprah Magazine
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