The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle provides valuable and practical insight on how to help build true presence into a constant state of consciousness. By cultivating a distinction between the constant mental dialog and commentary that is running through the mind and the actual observer of that mental commentary, Eckhart Tolle suggests one may begin to discover the true nature of their being-ness; A state that can only be experienced in the Now moment. When we engage in thoughts of the past or the future we are by definition outside of what is real and we isolate ourselves from the aliveness of our being.

This book points to the same message that many great spiritual traditions have attempted to elucidate over millennia. It does this without dogma, ritual and obscure prostrations. It offers practical and accessible wisdom that resonates with truth and yet insists that this awareness is not something to be attained. It is simply by recognizing that right now in this moment we exist as enlightened beings, that we can begin to recover the truth and totality of our being. I recommend this book as a must read for anyone looking to live more fully and contribute more meaningfully in their lives. “The Power of Now” is beautifully written and has the power to truly transform.

The following are highlights in the book that I found particularly helpful:


The Obstacle:

The greatest obstacle to experiencing the fullness of being is identification with mind. This delusion causes thought to be compulsive. The resulting unending mental noise then prevents the experience of inner stillness and true being. This identification also results in a false, mind made self that lives in fear and suffering. Identification with mind results in a dualistic reality that fills perception with labels, judgments, and words, that blocks all relationship. This state of unconsciousness forms a barrier between you and yourself, you and others, you and nature and you and God. This is the illusion of you as totally separate from others.

“You then forget the essential fact that, underneath the level of physical appearances and separate forms, you are one with all that is. By “forget” I mean that you can no longer feel this oneness as self-evident reality. You may believe it to be true, but you no longer know it to be true. A belief may be comforting. Only through your own experience, however, does it become liberating.”


The Pain Body:

When living in an unconscious state, not living in the “Now” moment- not awake to the aliveness of being, emotional pain that you experience in life leaves a residue of suffering that lives on in you. This pain merges with pre-existing pain from the past and is lodged in your body and mind. This accumulated pain forms a negative field of energy that occupies your mind and body-essentially feeding off your vitality like an independent entity. It can only survive if it gets you to identify with it. It survives by convincing us, that it is us. It will feed on any experience that resonates with its own kind of energy-anything that generates more pain in any of a multitude of forms (hatred, jealousy, emotional drama, violence etc.).

The pain body is really no more than a phantom. It has no inherent power other than the power we give it through identification with it. It also is empowered by the fear we experience as we avoid facing the pain that lives inside of us. The pain body must be faced and seen for what it is. It completely dissolves in the light of true consciousness. Once you observe it, and feel its energy field within, the identification with it is broken. The higher dimension of presence allows us to be the observer of the pain body. In this state of awareness it can no longer convincingly pretend to be us. This awareness is an example of accessing the power of Now.



Ego:

With the egoic mind in control of consciousness there is no ease, there is no peace. There may be momentary peace when a craving has just been filled. But that will be a fleeting experience as the ego strives to identify with the next object of attachment. The ego needs to identify with external things-it needs to be defended, justified and fed. Endless identification with outside objects, persons, organizations, experiences and belief systems fuel the egoic mind made self. None of these is you. “Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to ‘die before you die’ –and find that there is no death.”


Fear:

To be identified with one’s mind is to be disconnected from one’s true power. In such a state of consciousness, one is no longer rooted in the awareness of being beyond the mind and is correspondingly subject to a constant experience of fear. This state is common to most people. Virtually everyone you know or meet lives in some state of fear in varying degrees. It is only through alignment with your being beyond the mind that the fear dissolves. The sense of incompleteness and deprivation that is experienced from being disconnected to one’s true power gives way to wholeness, completion and acceptance of what is.


Relationships:

Allowing people to be as they are is the key to bringing presence into relationships. Judgment is the biggest obstacle. “Judgment is either to confuse someone’s unconscious behavior with who they are or to project your own unconsciousness onto another person and mistake that for who they are.” It is fine to recognize unconsciousness when you see it. However, rather than being the reaction to it with judgment, we must strive to be present to the knowing. “Instead of fighting the darkness, you bring in the light. Instead of reacting to delusion, you see the delusion yet at the same time look through it.” This higher awareness creates a loving space that allows all circumstances and all people to be as they are. This invites a powerful healing space in which transformation can take place.


Recommended: Yes