Rating: 
Summary: This book changed my life... I'm free from the pain!
Review: I bought this book trying to discover how to become more spiritual, but what I got was the answer to virtually every problem in my life! The reviews you read here are true. This is such a great book. Do you have "baggage" in your life that's interfering with your relationships? This book can change that. Are you your own worst enemy? This book can change that. Do you have people in your life who constantly drag you down or [drag] you into their problems? This book can change that? Do you worry all the time? This book can change that. Whether you are religious or not, it doesn't matter. This book speaks to you on a different level than you've ever realized is within you. I recommend the audio book. Tolle speaks very slowly, but that's okay, because there is SO much to think about and absorb in what he's saying that slow is good.
Rating:
Summary: Not then, not when, but
Review: I am thirty rears old and have been searching for answers to questions for most of this time. I was raised in a strict religious envirement, and like Tolle says, the highest good was always projected into a future time, which only exists in the mind and never in actuality. After reading The power of now, I came to realise that the search in itself was hampering my attempt at finding any real peace. It seems clear to me now that any search (for real truth) which involves the egoic mind, only leads to further suffering.I have come to appreciate (with help from Tolles book)that real truth can not be realised in the conventional scientific method of subject and object. This is mind stuff. Only when the mind is still can we enter into peace. The whole world is dominated by movement away from the present moment. Nothing is ever good enough. Tolle's book "The power of now", has helped me to understand that all our problems are created by a mind which refuses to acknowledge the present moment. Indeed, the very nature of the mind (as Tolle says) is in itself the problem. I have been sunk in a depresion for years, nothing could get me out of it. I have also suffered from obbsesive compulsive disorder, which is an anxiety problem charicterised by continual checking rituals and the need to control every moment. We have to surrender to the moment and allow it to be, unfortunatly the ego like Tolle says does not like this and want to control every moment. By simply looking at the trees and realising that they do not worry about time, has helped me to become more present as a person. "Loss of now is loss of being", so says Tolle, and I can apreciate his words. This book is wonderful, and I will read it many times. It offers a truth which transcends the mind, and in a practical way helps us to find the narrow road between past and future. This narrow road is the NOW, so simple, and yet so hard.
Rating: 
Summary: For newcomers to New Age thinking
Review: As someone who reads everything I can find on spiritual subjects, I found this book to be highly simplistic and too black & white/right-or-wrong for my taste. It has redeeming qualities, however: the entire book is just questions from people who seem to be skeptical about intuition and spirituality, with very well thought-out answers by Eckhart Tolle, who is very down to earth and not flaky in the least. His main point seems to be the importance of using intuition and not relying on logical thought alone, accepting that the intuition is tuned into many more of the consequences of our actions than a person's logic can possibly understand on its own. If you are interested in investigating this subject deeply with someone who is articulate and well-spoken, then this is the book for you. However, at times he writes as if a person cannot know what to do until they make a judgement about what is WRONG, and then go the opposite way. This is great if one is an addicted personality, but not for someone who is just looking to be balanced and open, free of the strain of always having to judge others and oneself. If you're wondering whether this book is for you, I hope this gives an idea of what's inside.
Rating:
Summary: A CLEAR & GENTLE, SIMPLE MESSAGE
Review: Enlightenment and Presence are often little more than words, as far as our daily lives are concerned. They're like any other words until we've had experiences that give them personal meaning. We can talk about puberty, heartbreak, childbirth or chocolate. We can talk about car accidents and broken families, funerals and flying, but the words and the actual experiences they describe are not the same things. Stories we hear in our lives about any of the above may lead us to think that we know something about those things, but we know nothing real until we experience the realities to which those words point. Although I've read and enjoyed other books that provided insights into presence, none have addressed the subject for me as well as this one. Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings on mindfulness have touched and inspired me, and made me want to understand being present. I felt recognition of my own life when I read his examples of how I am no more than a ghost to my daughter if while she sits with me and tells me about her day I am thinking about a problem I had at work that afternoon. His book, the "Miracle of Mindfulness", was one of my first exposures to what was meant by the concept. Pema Chodron helps us learn to soften to our own lives and heal our hearts by practicing feeling those lives in every moment. Her book, "When Things Fall Apart", is one of the most appreciated books in my life. There many others, of course. Another wonderful book is Stephen Levine's "A Gradual Awakening". Many friends list "Be Here Now", by Ram Dass, as a key experience in their journeys to awakening. Krishnamurti said all of these things, too, and some will say that's all you need. Others will say Jesus said it well enough. Just heed that message, but each person hears as differently as he or she speaks, and different messengers catch us at different times, in different places, with different abilities to be open at those times. Teachers of every faith and nationality have shared the power of presence, mindfulness or the Now with others for centuries. In recent years, the frequency and clarity of that message seems to be increasing. It reaches a new and helpful clarity in the words shared with us by Eckhart Tolle. In reading this simple book you will likely find, as others have mentioned, that you have to pause frequently to consider what you've read, because it is full of thoughts so simple you can barely hold them in your mind long enough to recognize how familiar they are. The practical truth embodied here opens the heart to an opportunity to finally 'get' the things we've been reading and discussing and wondering about much of our lives. A chance to stop thinking about presence and talking about presence and just try being present... This is a book about awakening, about living in the now instead of being lost in our thoughts about past and future. Perhaps more important, it is a practical guide, presented in a way that turns lights on all around us, enabling us to see a simple path to living an awakened life. A life empowered by our own Presence.
Rating:
Summary: Opening the Door to Awareness of Time
Review: Eckhart Tolle elegantly walks the tightwire of truth in this prescriptive discourse on finding the path of enlightenment. While wise men know that "truth is a slippery fish", Eckhart manages to sustain clear focus on the most common areas of difficulty for spiritual seekers (such as ego idenfitication with the pain-body) without getting lost in the inherent fluidity of the topic of how to be here now. THE POWER OF NOW is one of those books I read quickly, feeling that I am already aware of everything it says. I had this same response to "Conversations with God", finding that it's contents were quite obvious to me already. I am learning that when I have this reaction to a spiritual book, it indicates the book in question is destined for greatness! POWER OF NOW is written in layman's terms about some of the most profound metaphysical and spiritual insights. If you are interested in a clearer understanding of the true nature of one of the most fundamental dimensions in your life -- time -- I could not recommend a better book to get you started on your quest! For those interested in deepening the understanding of this most mysterious thing, I'd recommend reading one of Tarthang Tulku's excellent books on space, time and knowledge.
Rating:
Summary: The end of all searching
Review: The best book I've read. I read this book and brought it into practice. I am peacefull now and no longer searching.
The question is not 'is this a good book' but 'are you ready to bring it in to practice?'
Rating:
Summary: Profound Yet Simple
Review: The philosphy taught in this book does not require that you have a belief in God or a Supreme Being. However, it outlines a profound yet simple teaching that was given to us by some of the the great masters. It is a theme that can be found in many of the spiritual teachings, yet if you are an atheist or an agnostic you can apply these principles in your life and realize a great reward. The prose is simple and sometimes repetitive, but it doesn't take anything away from the powerful message. The author points out that we spend most of our time in the past or in the future, completely ignorant of the moment in which we find ourselves. Meanwhile, life literally passes us by, and we miss the beauty of the moment. How many times have you driven home from work under a beautiful sunset, thinking about all the wrongs done to you that day, or what you wish you would have said when so-and-so said such-and such, and completely missed the beautiful sunset all around you? Likewise, how many times have driven to work with a beautiful sunrise, thinking about what you were going to say and do during the morning staff meeting? We spend most of our time with our minds somewhere other than where we are, and to our great detriment. The author presents a way in which to find ourselves in the moment and therefore really power up our lives with the appreciation and all the power that we have available to us, simply by being PRESENT! I have been working with this while doing the most mundane of chores, or while listening to a friend talk, etc. It works. It really has a magnificent effect on the joy factor and trains the mind in a way that can significantly increase the ability to achieve objectives, whatever they may be, to be happier or to be more effective in your work. I highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially to anyone who finds their mind constantly tripping back and forth from places other than where they are at the moment.
Rating:
Summary: When you're ready, the teacher appears
Review: Long ago, I read a quote "A butterfly cannot teach flying to a caterpillar". Eckhard Tolle can and does in The Power of Now.
Rating:
Summary: Okay, "Now" I get it.
Review: Both Jesus and Buddha taught that enlightenment was possible here and now. Jesus observed that the kingdom of God "is within," and the Buddha taught us that our constant wanting and craving only leads to suffering. Similarly, the message of Eckhart Tolle's book is simply, "to know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment" (p. 128). Tolle encourages us to see that, because we are slaves to the mind's constant stream of thoughts, we create our own pain by dwelling on the past, or worrying about the future when, in fact, the present moment is all we have (p. 48). His 191-page book is like a roadmap when we're lost, helping us find our way back to the present moment in our days, bodies, and relationships. Yes, it's full of power. Yes, you mustn't delay in reading this book NOW. G. Merritt
Rating: 
Summary: Practical Spiritualism
Review: This is an excellent book that I decided to get after reading all the positive reviews. I once experienced enlightenment many years ago and have since been looking for a way of recreating that feeling.
While this book has not allowed me to do that yet, I'm sure with practice that it will occur sooner or later.
The book is written in an question-answer format style that makes it easy to read. Furthermore, the material is repeated many times over such that the core contents of the book could actually be presented in less than half the number of pages.
One of my complaints is that while most of the text is quite practical, it can get relatively spiritual at times. Other than that the book was worth the price. In fact I'm reading it second time round.
Another book worth mentioning that is far more practical and is a much quicker read is "Working on yourself does'nt work".
| 
