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The Power of Now

A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

By Eckhart Tolle

(69)

| Others | 9780733620447

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6 Reviews

This book introduced the joy and peace of Being in Now.
The author was a spiritual teacher. I agreed with him that the world now came to a state of chaos, in the mental and psychological sense, and demanded a revolutionary development in the human race. There were too much conflict, hatred, com ... (continue)

This book introduced the joy and peace of Being in Now.
The author was a spiritual teacher. I agreed with him that the world now came to a state of chaos, in the mental and psychological sense, and demanded a revolutionary development in the human race. There were too much conflict, hatred, competition and sorrow. The Mind was actually taking over the world.
In this book, it emphasized being in the presence, through witnessing your own emotions, not being identified with and controlled by the Mind. The Mind is not the real self. The real self is the Being deep inside. Something precious, eternal and with enormous power.
One have to learn how to accept what is, get rid of Time, surrender to the external world, offer no resistance to emotions and situations. Only by staying conscious could one feel the joy and peace that would last forever.
A very very good book for mental growth and enlightenment at this time of the year. It was meaningful and I did get something out of it.
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"Those who have not found their true wealth, which is the radiant joy of Being and the deep, unshakeable peace that comes with it, are beggars, even if they have great material wealth. They are looking outside for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, security, or love, while they have a treasure within that not only includes all those things but is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer."
"The compulsive thinker, which means almost everyone, lives in a state of apparent separateness, in an insanely complex world of continuous problems and conflict, a world that reflects the ever-increasing fragmentation of the mind."
"So when you listen to a thought, you are aware not only of the thought but also of yourself as the witness of the thought... The thought then loses its power over you and quickly subsides, because you are no longer energizing the mind through identification with it."
"You need to be present enough to be able to watch the pain-body directly and feel its energy. It then cannot control your thinking."
"What you think of as the past is a memory trace, stored in the mind, of a former Now... The future is an imagined Now, a projection of the mind."
"All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry - all forms of fear - are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence. "
"Being free of psychological time, you no longer pursue your goals with grim determination, driven by fear, anger, discontent, or the need to become someone. Nor will you remain inactive through fear of failure, which to the ego is loss of self.... You don't seek permanency where it cannot be found: in the world of form, of gain and loss, birth and death. You don't demand that situations, conditions, places, or people should make you happy, and then suffer when they don't live up to your expectations."
"Do not give all your attention away to the mind and the external world. By all means focus on what you are doing, but feel the inner body at the same time whenever possible. Stay rooted within."
"If you continue to pursue the goal of salvation through a relationship, you will be disillusioned again and again. But if you accept that the relationship is here to make you conscious instead of happy, then the relationship will offer you salvation, and you will be aligning yourself with the higher consciousness that wants to be born into this world."
"To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad... Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them - while they last. All those thighs, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore."
"Feel yourself becoming transparent, as it were, without the solidity of a material body. Now allow the noise, or whatever causes a negative reaction, to pass right through you... Instead of having a wall of resistance inside you that gets constantly and painfully hit by things that "should not be happening", let everything pass through you."
"If you can never accept what is, by implication you will not be able to accept anybody the way they are... If you continuously make the Now into a means to an end in the future, you will also make every person you encounter or relate with into a means to an end."
"If you cannot accept what is outside, the accept what is inside. If you cannot accept the external condition, accept the internal condition. This means: Do not resist the pain. Allow it to be there."

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Candy said on Jan 6, 2012 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

As the title of this book reveals, it talks about how you can achieve spiritual growth with the help of "Now". You have to defer judgement while reading this book because the knowledge it tries to introduce is not what we have learnt and experienced.
Refraining from your critical thinking and inc ... (continue)

As the title of this book reveals, it talks about how you can achieve spiritual growth with the help of "Now". You have to defer judgement while reading this book because the knowledge it tries to introduce is not what we have learnt and experienced.
Refraining from your critical thinking and incessantly thinking, open your mind to pay fullest attention to your routine activity. This switches the focus to "Now". Usually your egoic mind prevents you from achieving this state.
One vivid scenario described in the book is when one gets angry, don't think about your anger. Don't judge or analyze. Just stay present and be the observer of what is happening inside you. Observe and not let the anger takes over you. Simply put, let your feeling shows and goes.
To be honest, I only buy a few points postulated in this book. And once you understand the author's claim, the later chapters and Q&A become rhetoric and playing words with different definitions. That said, I do learn a trick or two. It also provides enough food for self-reflection!

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Waleswong said on Mar 2, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Thanks to my friend who suggested me this book, which inspired me a lot. You may not understand every part of it when you first read this, but it takes you to a totally new but simple view of life. To live, is to enjoy the present, feel the present, and accept what is it to you.

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Kay Chan said on Feb 28, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

The spiritual enlightenment advertised by the book's subtitle is maybe an exaggerated promise, but the book is incredibly useful, if you use it when you really need it.
I ran into the power of now during the only moment of my life I could make use of it, and this is what is really mystical for me ab ... (continue)

The spiritual enlightenment advertised by the book's subtitle is maybe an exaggerated promise, but the book is incredibly useful, if you use it when you really need it.
I ran into the power of now during the only moment of my life I could make use of it, and this is what is really mystical for me about this book.
In a moment when my mind was dangerously scurrying to and fro towards as much dangerous directions, the book was an almost essential tool to keep it anchored to the present.
That is what the whole book is all about. One of the few faults of it is that all seems discovered by the author whereas it is actually nothing new under the sun. The foundamental idea of the power of now is the asian concept of "here and now" brought to its extreme development by some philosophies, which say that the only reality is what you can hear and see now, and all the rest is pure illusion. The idea is extreme, but sometimes useful.

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Chase Insteadman Mountbatten said on Feb 23, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Read for a course I'm taking. Some interesting ideas, but nothing I would fully incorporate into my personal philosophy. Tolle seems like a real human being though, which is rare in writers of these kinds of books (at least the ones I've read).

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AlteredSoul said on Mar 16, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

Precursor of A New Earth

This is an eye-opening book through a series of question-and-answers from the author's teaching experience.
You will feel the familiarity of the "Now" concept, but it is still hard to grasp how to let go of the past and the future and keep going with your "normal" life. A lot of past experienc ... (continue)

This is an eye-opening book through a series of question-and-answers from the author's teaching experience.
You will feel the familiarity of the "Now" concept, but it is still hard to grasp how to let go of the past and the future and keep going with your "normal" life. A lot of past experiences need to be relearned to be able to understand the point of this book. It's difficult for us not to think about those agonies and pains once they are dwelt on your body and soul.

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artie said on Jan 8, 2009 about the Audio CD edition | Add your feedback