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Summary: I'm glad I borrowed the book.
Review: A friend loaned me this book after I told her that I had not read it. Her comment was "This book will eat your lunch!"Well this book did NOT eat my lunch. I had already learned most of what was in here in my years of exploring MANY spiritual traditions while I was trying to find a faith that answered my spiritual questions. If you have not walked down the many far eastern paths (as I have), you will probably find this book VERY enlightening, and help you live your life in a conscious manner. Personaly; I believe a study of Zazen from Zen Buddhism will assist more than this book about living in the present; Two Bears. Wah doh Ogedoda (We give thanks Great Spirit)
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Summary: Please read this book
Review: This book was extremely helpful in my opening. I can think of no other source, save a live master, that could be more helpful to someone looking to explore their spiritual side. This book is also excellent for analytical thinkers, and for people who are turned off by religion.
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Summary: Now is the time
Review: All you need to do is stop and be very still. I am a university student, studying psychology. I am always questoning my experience. After exams, or when I have just handed in an assignment I have always noticed a strange peace which comes upon me. Its as if the struggle is over, and we can start living now. My perception of the outside world is also slightly diferent. Things for some reason seem to glow a bit more, as if they are coming to life. The shapes do not change, but the experience of them does. Athletes feel the same way. It seems that we all have milder versions of what Tolle experienced;his was more complete. The book is beutiful, a real gem.
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Summary: Selfconsciousness -- the key of the spiritual awaken
Review: A clear, objective and a brilhant exposition. It goes straight to the core of the spiritual search, which is, basicaly, regain the consciousness of the inner Self - our true identity and reality. The author speaks of his own experience, and shows how is possible for anyone who realy want to reach that state of absolute peace and joy inside us. There is someting realy new in this book.
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Summary: Not a book for the mind - a book to teach you to be free
Review: I have refrained from writing a review of this book for nearly a year and a half, being content to simply practice what Tolle has expressed so simply - remain in the present moment for that is all we have. After nearly three decades of practicing meditation to become enlightened (some day) I found it disheartening to conclude that I wasn't really getting anywhere, yet I was reluctant to give up the effort. Then Tolle popped into my life like a much needed life preserver, showed me who I really am, and put an end to my thrashing about in self-created whirlpools of despair - when you discover you are the ocean itself the whirlpools peter out in embarrassment. Don't read this book in order to feed your mind, stroke your ego or validate your beliefs. Read it in order to learn to free yourself from pain and delusion. It is obvious when reading certain reviews that some people are looking to add mind stuff to their inventory and then to demonstrate what a fine mind they have with an erudite and academic rebuff. They will have to remain content with a mind dominated life, always looking for something outside themselves to give validation and meaning. At some point, however, if they are lucky they may tire of that and take the opportunity to practice living in the now. It takes courage to jump into the unknown and discover the freedom and joy in living life moment to moment. Perhaps you are ripe for this book like I was. Even so it was not always easy to let go of cherished beliefs and practices, but ultimately it is the only thing you can do if you really want freedom. Tolle shows how conditioned we have become in a gentle and easy manner, leading you by the hand all the way to the door of freedom. But it is up to each one of us to open that door. At first you may spend only moments of clock time in the sweetness of the now. If you keep at it you will become more skillful in accessing the now, and you will find yourself dwelling there for extended periods of clock time. And then upon reflection you will realize the peace that is always available - that we ARE peace. So, are you willing to see what life will be like without a mind and ego to steer your every move, as you have been so conditioned to do all your life? (and if you are, don't worry, you will always have access to the mind and ego). Are you willing to let go of everything and to simply BE and let life unfold naturally? (it will anyway, but not resisting it reveals the peace that underlies all phenomenon). If you are you will not find a better guide than Eckhart Tolle.
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Summary: May be an interesting read for the beginners
Review: As the adept of gentle art of detaching from the brain process normally labelled 'the ego', you should probably be on the watch against is what appears to be a slightly narcissistic thread in this book. The author obviously attempts to appear 'transcendental' and self-forgetful. But as somebody who allegedly mastered 'thinking without thinker,' or 'being without thinking,' Eckhart Tolle enjoys surprisingly enthusiastically his role as the 'spiritual teacher.' Unfortunately the text does not offer anything especially new. The collage of 'teachings' assembled in the book is easily found elsewhere, author's reliance on his own experience as the ultimate support system and frame of reference is almost religious. Philosophical reflection on the text: it seems that merely transcending the time dimension does not turn out to be sufficiently strong move to help the author transcend the pattern of thinking in objects. It seems that author's pattern exploits the following old thread: the mind is set as the 'illusory' object disturbing the 'unmanifested being,' at the price of forgetfulness that the game is played by god who forgot about his own identity and essence. Hence the need for enlightenment. But as Arthur Deikman would say, the "I" is identical to awareness, which means that it should be differentiated from the various aspects of the physical person and its mental contents, which form the 'self.' The dualistic experience given as primary in our consciousness is not a dualism of mind and matter, but that of the "I" and that which is observed. The identity of awareness and the "I" means that we know awareness by being it, thus solving the infinite regress of observers. Once you have this experience, the NOW is also realised, but not only as related to the timeline, also to the other dimensions. Maybe an intersting read for the beginner to break the inertia of the Western mind-set thinking.
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Summary: YES!
Review: Our millennium is bringing forth a new, collective flowering of consciousness. The old set of consciousness has not yet been broken, and, unfortunately, it may only be broken by a momentous future catastrophe. Perhaps "September 11" was the beginning of our awakening. During the latter part of the 19th century, an extraordinary woman, Madame Blavatsky, channeled material which created a great movement of spiritual awareness. Yet, she stated that it would be another hundred years before the secrets she kept would be revealed. Almost to the day, the Course of Miracles was released but never advertised except by word of mouth. It seemed that the Course simplified teachings from almost every imaginable source, but it also presented itself in a form that was non-threatening to the modern Christian-oriented world. Now, new teachers are emerging, and they are helping us with this transformation by presenting these same ideas from Eastern and Western spiritual teachings in a neutral, up-to-date format. Certainly, one of outstanding teachers is a young man, Eckert Tolle, author of "The Awakening West," and a new masterpiece, "The Power of Now." Our time has come to move from the old image of pain, hatred and war, to the new paradigm of the release of suffering for all humanity. The thoughts have been our sacred treasure for thousands of years from all the great mystics of our planet, but now we are ready to understand what the transformation means for the survival of the human species.
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Summary: Power of Tolle
Review: I do not think "The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment" is a good book. I do think Eckhart Tolle's book presents ideas which insult the thinking meditatively inclined reader. As a starting point for someone who has never considered philosophical thought before, this book might be intriguing. Like Deepak Chopra, there are curious nuggets of interesting ideas, but, also like Chopra the depth stops on a dime. Tolle seems more interested in stopping pain than pursuing wholeness. The absence of pain does not necessarily mean the presence of happiness, and the presence of happiness does not necessarily mean the presence of contentment. Tolle believes the truth self is the deepest self, whereas believers in a diety-based religion realize the deepest truth is found outside of ourselves, in God. Many people might argue which God is the true God, of course, but Tolle shortsightedly and arrogantly implies there is not God but ourselves. Any value found in Tolle's book is the challenge to stop, relax and focus through the mired confusion around us. It is diificult to discover truth with a myriad of life's event flurrying around, and Tolle is right to suggest we stop, breathe and ask what is truth. These are old concepts explained well by Tolle, but they are only the beginning. For a meditative book, try "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chamber, or anything by Thomas Kempis. I cautiously recommend "The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment" by Eckhart Tolle. Anthony Trendl
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Summary: One of the best there is!
Review: I ordered the tape set and although Tolle's voice may seem like the most boring monotone in the world (other reviewers mention not to drive while listening) I was able to drive and stay fully present in the moment without any difficulty..........His words are the height of truth and particularly touched me when he spoke of his own depression lifting at the age of 29 when he realized that his own thoughts created his depression: they were thoughts of the past (worrying about what had happened and could not be changed) or the future (usually a fearful state for the depressed individual) that caused the problem and when he lived in the present, the deression cleared...it's living in anything but the present that prevents us from fully functioning.......it's the clearness of mind that comes from a clear, empty mind that produces brilliance, not the cluttered mind that we feel has to always active......it's a relaxed mind that can think quickly, respond when necessary and function properly when it needs to: seeing the Now and not the might be, the could-have been's or the if-onlies...........I would recommend this book to anyone.....the lessons are easy and yet require vigelance. To one accustomed to daydreaming and living in the future this take effort, but it is well worth the effort: it can be truly life changing: it has been for me..To one who lives in the past it too will take courage to bring yourself into the now, but the rewards will be a life with a lot less regrets and greater options and being more fully alive and functioning : and isn't that what we strive for........thank you Eckhatrd Tolle
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Summary: Honestly changed my life
Review: This book really and truly has changed my life. If I had one personal item to take to a deserted island, this book would be my choice. I've read a lot of spiritually oriented books over the years, and I've gained much from them. After reading Eckhart's message in The Power of Now, I felt like "this is really *it*"; no need to look anymore. I still feel that way, and I think that it's been around two years since I first read it. The external search for truth is finally over for me. His audio tapes & CD's are also excellent, and are always surprisingly fresh and new. I personally believe that Eckhart is one of a very few true masters to walk this Earth. Do yourself a favor and buy this book (& some of his tapes); you won't be sorry.
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