I got you thinking, didn’t I, with that question? You’re wondering what I could possibly have to say about you, that maybe I have a problem with you, and suddenly your defenses are up ready for my attack. The truth is that I wanted you to understand why I think you need to read this exceptional book by Eckhart Tolle, a German-born counselor and spiritual teacher living in Canada now.

Psychologically put, if you reacted defensively to my question, then you are identifying with your ego-driven mind. Simply put, you think too much and your mind rather than your spirit controls your life. It doesn’t have to be this way, though. The Power of Now is a “guide to spiritual enlightenment” just as it claims to be. I have gotten more out of this question-and-answer formatted book than I’ve gotten out of any of the numerous spiritual books I’ve read.

Here are a few major questions that I want you to consider :

· Is there a stream of thoughts going through your mind all day?

· Do you feel that time is important and you live by it?

· Does the past define you and will your future be better than today?

· Is love the opposite of hate or another emotion?

· Do you feel unsatisfied with who you are and look to external things for the answer, for you don’t feel able to change yourself?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any or all of those questions, I hope you will pick up this book. In order to be enlightened, that is free to be the spiritual being you are, you should not be thinking most of the day, nor feel that you’re competing with or being defined by or looking for time as the answer to your problems, either. What you do today should not be done as a means to an end, but rather because it is the best way to live today. Now.

Tolle also explains how true love has no opposite “because it arises from beyond the mind.” What he means is that love comes from one’s spirit and is not caused or affected by seesawing emotions. Only an enlightened person, one who is fully conscious of themselves, living in the present, and able to control how they behave through observing their emotions and thoughts, will be capable of loving. Only a person who knows they are not separate from others, but unified with God or “Being” essence every moment of the day, can love, for otherwise they will search for completeness in others and be dissatisfied with them as well.

Ten Chapters

1) You Are Not Your Mind – This is what your ego tells you, not your spirit, and is the major obstacle to enlightenment.
2) Consciousness: The Way Out of Pain – By becoming aware of how you presently feel, you do not create more pain and can free yourself of it.
3) Moving Deeply Into the Now – Time is an illusion; nothing exists but the present moment; problems are caused by a time-bound mode of consciousness.
4) Mind Strategies For Avoiding the Now – Psychological needs of the egoic mind are discussed.
5) The State of Presence – Close your eyes and ask yourself what your next thought will be. You probably couldn’t think of a thing and that’s a state of intense presence.
6) The Inner Body – The body can help you access the realm of Being.
7) Portals Into the Unmanifested – Besides the body there is silence, space, dreamless sleep, the Now, not thinking, surrender to resistance of reality, and your senses that will help you uncover the divine purpose of the universe.
8) Enlightened Relationships – This is where love is discussed. He also believes that women are closer to being enlightened!
9) Beyond Happiness and Unhappiness There is Peace – You don’t need the drama an ego brings to your life; accept “bad” things, find peace.
10)The Meaning of Surrender -- Surrender doesn’t mean to take no action or to resign yourself to a situation, but to accept the Now rather.

Final Thoughts

I think you should read this book. I really do. It might seem too spiritual or heavy for you, but it really is easy to read no matter if this is your first or ninety-first spiritual book. As I mentioned above, Tolle answers many questions that are put to him that would be questions you or I would ask, which really helped me to understand The Power of Now. It all flowed into each other like one big conversation, although fortunately one that’s written down so you can reread passages and pause where he suggests you pause or wherever you want to.

The book has done what no other book has done for me and explained clearly with references to Jesus, Zen Masters and other spiritual books that there is much more beyond the mind. There is freedom and life and true love and creativity. God is really Presence, Being, the Unmanifested (no form or image) and No-thing. If you can’t tell, I love this book! It will not be forgotten—ever.

Let me share with you just a little of it and then I’ll shut up. :-)

Now let your spiritual practice be this: As you go about your life, don’t give 100 percent of your attention to your external life and to your mind. Keep some within..Feel the inner body even when engaged in everyday activities, especially when engaged in relationships or with nature. Feel the stillness deep inside it. Keep the portal open…You become a bridge between the Unmanifested and the manifested, between God and the world. This is the state of connectedness with the Source that we call enlightenment. (pp 109)




Recommended: Yes