The Power of Now

A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

By: Eckhart Tolle

Narrated by: Eckhart Tolle

Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

To make the journey into The Power of Now you need to leave your analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. Access to the Now is everywhere - in the body, the silence, and the space all around you. These are the keys to enter a state of inner peace. They can be used to bring you into the Now, the present moment, where problems do not exist. It is here you find your joy and are able to embrace your true self. It is here you discover that you are already complete and perfect.

Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart Tolle offers simple language in a question and answer format. The words themselves are the signposts to guide you on your journey. There are new discoveries to be made along the way: you are not your mind, you can find your way out of psychological pain, authentic human power is found by surrendering to the Now. When you become fully present and accepting of what is, you open yourself to the transforming experience of The Power of Now.

©2000 New World Library

Critic reviews

"One of the best books to come along in years. Every sentence rings with truth and power." (Deepak Chopra)
"A reminder to be truly present in our own lives and liberated from our past and future. It can transform your thinking." (O: The Oprah Magazine)

A modern serving of Basic Sanity.

As a Buddhist, I find an amazing parallel between the teachings of Tolle and the basic sanity of Buddhism. Thanks to Tolle, I now understand why the glimpses into reality that I have experienced have always faded and not lead to lasting peace - my mind incorporated them into my 'story'.

Thanks to this reminder, I feel like I am embarking on a spiritual journey that has been sidelined for a very long time by my identification with my mind and my story as it is expressed through past and future. Although much of the wisdom expressed in this book has been expressed before, at least one new concept, that of the 'Pain Body', is both new (to me) and very useful.

This book is very inspiring. After years of confusion and procrastination, Tolle's 'Power of Now' has compelled me to begin my spiritual practice 'now'.

Many Gems Among The Rest

What made the experience of listening to The Power of Now the most enjoyable?

I have always been someone who spends 80% of my time thinking of the past or planning for a future that normally never works out as planned... major wastes of time. Rarely am I in the moment or enjoying that I am experiencing that second. I am normally recalling something, thinking of something else, etc. and don't absorb new things. I lost a brother 20 years ago in a car accident and lost my mother a little over a year ago to Cancer. While I certainly thought of the past and what I could have said to my brother, etc. the loss of my mother threw me into a tailspin. I would relive every moment of her illness daily, every word we said in her final months (all wonderful, we were very close) I would also find myself back to my brother's death and then constantly in panic worrying about my father's future, the rest of my family, etc. My mind was racing 24/7. I would wake in the middle of the night in sheer panic. My doctor have me something for sleep, something to take for anxiety and then anti-depressants. Everything possible to shut down my mind. It helped, but I am not one to take pills and hated having to take this stuff all the time with some but uneven results.I am not one to read books. I can sit still for maybe 20 minutes and then I close the book and never finish it. I joined audible hoping to be able to learn from books I knew had knowledge I needed, but I would never sit and read cover to cover.First, I listened to Jill Bolte Taylor's "My Stroke of Insight" and learned so much about quieting the mind. Then, I moved on to "The Power of Now". I have taken notes and used many of the techniques Tolle recommends. I truly feel much calmer, if I catch myself looking back of forward I pull myself into the present. This has been the first time in many months I am not obsessing about the past of worrying about the future. I will say that sometimes Tolle speaks over the heads of the listener and the format (Q&A) causes him to repeat himself. But there are many nuggets of valuable information in the book that you must listen to. Well worth the time.

What other book might you compare The Power of Now to and why?

"My Stroke of Insight" by Jill Bolte Taylor. A similar theme of being present.

Any additional comments?

Personally, while I understand the value of a Q and A format, both the male and female readers used to ask Tolle's questions often sound as if they are reading off a prompter or seems to be trying too hard to pretend they are the ones really asking the question. The bouncing from male to female from chapter to chapter is also distracting.

The Power of Now

I met a person on a flight from Nashville to Chicago. We witnessed a magnificent sunset and talked about life in general. During our discussion, she recommended a couple books. One of the books was “The Power of Now” of the other was “A New Earth”. I purchased the “The Power of Now” audio book and am listening to it a second time.


My heartfelt thanks for the recommendation! “The Power of Now” really touched my soul! My wife is reading the paperback and I am sure it will be as valuable to her as it was to me. I have a feeling there was a higher power behind that sunset, maybe even divine intervention. The sunset that day was representative of the power of now. The clouds formed a floor and ceiling with the sun in the middle. The floor and the ceiling were the past and the future and the beautiful sun was representative of now. The miracle of life unfolded right before my eyes and the beauty witnessed was a result of being in the now.

I also downloaded the audio version of “A New Earth” today and will read that one too.

Liberating

A must for liberation of spirit from the machinations and control of the ego and the culturally conditioned mind.

LIFE ALTERING WITH A PLUS

I've meditated and read many books in 62 years and have never had so many positive changes from any as I have from "The Power of Now". If you're "ready", this book might be for you. I found it more effective as an audio book than when reading it. It also appealed more to me than Byron Katie.

Doubted. Bought. Glad.

1. As written in other comments, I agree his voice takes a bit of getting used to, but I soon found that his delivery style was not monotonous but actually complemented the material being delivered. He doesn't stress words and have inflection like other narrators but that fact lets you interpret a sentence in different ways. He doesn't tell you what to think. His delivery lets me concentrate on what is being said without distraction. And I like his slight accent, it's sexy.

2. Troubled by negative inner critical voices? This book might be for you. It works for me in that regard. What a relief!

The only book you ever need.

It's not about finding your way in life, it's about finding life's way in you.
The most important book you can ever read.

This book has changed my life.

I have been on a path of change for a while, and this book was for me an eye opener.

The Power of Now talks about a very simple idea, to stop leaving inside our heads, and start leaving the world, making each moment count.

When I explain this book to my friends I tell them: We are constantly thinking, specially I was like that. We think about past things good and bad, and we think about future things. We play situations that have happen over and over, or play situations that will happen.

Have you ever had the feeling of getting somewhere and not remembering what happen in between?

If you think about it, the past does not exist because it already happen, you cant change it anymore, so YES you should understand it but not re-live it over and over again. The futuro doesn't exist either, it will exist at some point but many times we are playing it in our heads, hurting ourselves with worry, sadness, fear before the moment its even there.

This book will teach you some tricks on how to live the Present, the only moment that really does exist, the only moment where you can be a better human being, where you can love, touch and feel. It is actually, the only moment you can make a change in your life.

Most of my friends that I recommended the book love it, but have a problem bringing themselves to the present. I recommend an exercise that I learned from a book called Your Brain at Work (Great book btw). He says your Brain can only process one new thing each time, and it has two processing areas, the Narrative (that is when your mind doesn't stop all day of thinking of all sorts of things non stop) and the Sensorial (which is the feeling of water, sounds, etc). So if you focus yourself on the feeling of the water when you are washing dishes, the sound of the street when you are walking around, the air coming in your face you will shut down your narrative thinking, because both cant happen at the same time. If you train yourself you will be able to do this more and more easily.

When I first learned this I was addicted to it, doing it several times a day. Then The Power of Now came and told me "you can live like this". I tough to myself "What???"

But is possible. To live without thinking, to be more present, to be more in peace. I think this is like happyness, its stillness, and best of all, you can have it now. You dont have to wait for a better job, better salarie, better partner, everyone can have it now.

after reading this, I want to read "I am That" by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, I read it goes even deeper into the same subject,

bye

Matteo

Very enlightening

I've read a number of books about spirituality and this is one of those that I found to be most compelling and enlightening. If you're in a search for how to understand yourself and what's going on around you, this is highly recommended. I've listened to this over and over. Later, I also bought his New Earth. I got also the 4 Agreements, and found that Tolle's "old teachings" are more profound and enlightening. I read Chopra's works like 7 Spiritual Laws of Success and "Synchrodestiny" before Tolle's works and both teachers have influenced me greatly.

A life changing book. A must read!

Loved it. A must read. It is life changing!Get this book! NOW! NOW!NOW!AWESOME and BEAUTIFUL.