Rating: 
Summary: A true gem
Review: (a comment, not a book report)
I came upon this book rather unintentionally. I was not seeking a spiritual answer; I didn't even think I was ready for all that nonsense. But after the insistence of a dear friend who wanted to share a thought with me regarding the book, I read a portion of it. And then I realized I came upon a true gem... It is the book that has had the most profound impact on me, and because of that I write this entry, my first one ever.
Eckhart Tolle reminds us not to "think" about what he is saying, but to "know" it as truth. If his words innately resonate with you, you will understand. If not, you won't. If you come upon this book or probably any other with a critical mind, wondering at every point.. do I agree? do I believe this to be so or not?.. you will find all the criticisms you seek. Funny enough I don't think this book will resonate with those that have read a compilation of "spiritual" books. In any case, I think that if you cannot relate on a spiritual level, it at least offers up some practical comments.
I have listened to the audio book many times now, and each time I understand more and more. I become more and more aware. There is such beauty. His words are not something to "believe" in. They are just signposts.. to point you towards your own path. You must choose to be ready.. no one can knock it into your head.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful, helpful book
Review: Following a personal mystical experience, Eckhart Tolle was transformed from a callous atheist to a spiritual believer. This book shares lovely insights and wise suggestions for ways to reach into the dimensions that Tolle discovered spontaneously. He believes that all of us have this awareness within us, but that our chattering mind obscures this.
Here is one of a variety of approaches Tolle suggests for finding the quiet center where we can be present - following his format of questions and answers.
"(You keep talking about the state of presence as the key. I think I understand it intellectually, but I don't know if I have ever truly experienced it. I wonder - is it what I think it is, or is it something entirely different?)
It's not what you think it is! You can't think about presence, and the mind can't understand it. Understanding presence is being present.
Try a little experiment. Close your eyes and say to yourself: "I wonder what my next thought is going to be." Then become very alert and wait for the next thought. Be like a cat watching a mouse hole. What thought is going to come out of the mouse hole? Try it now. (p. 77)"
Tolle points out that good and evil are two sides of the same thing. Again and again, Tolle makes the point that the only productive spiritual goal is to find the place where we are one with "the higher good beyond good and bad."
Thoughtful, helpful book - for letting go of thought-fullness!
Rating: 
Summary: A Guide to the Answer, not the Answer itself!
Review: I believe that many of the criticisms leveled below against Tolle's book are really the result of perspective. I, too, had difficulty trying to achieve the serenity by the means given in this book. I eventually found another way to achieve a level of peace and joy that I could only imagine before. From this new perspective, 'The Power of Now' makes perfect sense. The mind is of limited use in the pursuit of the spiritual. I wasn't ready then for the information he gave and my path was not through the techniques described his the book. Yet, the same principles Tolle discusses are now in my present practice. This doesn't mean Eckhart Tolle was wrong. There many different ways of expressing the same truths. Rather than knocking something that doesn't make sense to you, keep looking until you find your path. Books, such as 'The Power of Now', are only helpful guides to your own answers.
Rating:
Summary: A spiritual Gem--Filled with depth and perception!
Review: I don't know where to begin with this book. I will start by saying that one of the many things that makes the Power of Now a gem of a book is how Tolle has taken the core of ancient wisdom and churned out a real masterpiece without very mystical or religious concepts.
This is definately a book for someone who is into self realization..IT IS NOT A POP PSYCHOLOGY BOOK OR A NEW AGE BOOK as some in the negative reviews have claimed. That is the problem with being on a best seller list like Tolle now is, the book is being read by people who normally wouldn't read something like this and "give it a shot cause it's kind of popular now" and are faced with talk on "Ego, trancending mind chatter, enlightenment, how the past/future are only mental creations etc." This is a book for people who are willing to take a moment to understand the premise...your true nature is beyond body, mind identification/constructs. Not in a very mystical way-in very natural way, one can even say a scientific way, the science of all religions before they became organized religions--the message of true self realization.
Of course the book takes a certain EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE. We hear over and over that we are all ONE and that our true nature is beyond the body but how many of us truly get that in an experiental no nonsense way? Very few. The Power of Now's core teachings are a deep inner path not a quick-pop book.
In conclusion, Tolle has a great ability to communicate with very deep perception and the book is nothing short of brilliant.
The premise is--Suffering is due to the mind made self, the Present helps one transend the false self. Once transended...the discovery of Timeless NOW free of mental anguish...Sorry to sound weird.
Please read this book with patience and keep a Zen like mindset to get into the tone.
Rating: 
Summary: Take this with a grain of salt...
Review: I read this book when I was 17 years old, when my mind was mush and I would listen to anything that told me my life was still alright after a bad breakup. The book made too much sense to me the first time I read it, and did nothing but haunt me for 3 years of my life. I had thoughts like, "wait...don't buy clothes...clothes aren't important...", and when I'd have emotions, "no. stop. emotions aren't important." I felt worthless and empty trying to mold myself into this happy man, eckhart tolle, and it wasn't til I was 20 years old (now) that I completely realize that my own path is my own path.
To anyone who wants to read this book and hasn't, take it with a grain of salt. The book is, in essence, instructional. Eckhart "tells" you to feel your presence, wash your emotions away and envelop your self in the "now", with complete surrender and acceptance. It's ok if the first time you read it, you don't have a clue what he's talking about. I believe that he has had mystical experiences because his words do ring of truth if they ring of anything, (though very repetitively), and that he has a lot to share with us. But the things he is trying to share, the things any writer of mystical experience is trying to share is almost in vain because enlightenment does not come from a book. To really fully achieve "presence" and "Nirvana", reading books about it will just skew your notion of what it is. It is not something that can be achieved, and reading about someone's else's experience won't bring you any closer, unless you are able to pick the words up from the page and feel Eckhart's presence within you. I couldn't.
Rating:
Summary: Reading was fine, practising is very difficult
Review: I think this book is way different than the many books I had read. I have been intrigued by this Q "why I am living? what is the purpose of life?" and to my surprise Tolle also had the same question when he begain his journey to spritual world. I believe one has to read this book with a commitment to adapt the teachings in some form and follow them. I totally agree with Tolle that "life is full of suffering". Actually in ancient indian (east india) culture also it has been mentioned in the scriptures life is nothing but suffering, if you can enlighten your mind and soul from this materialistic world by reading this book then its priceless!!!
New Comment: I wrote the above review when I was mid way reading the book. I found it very difficult to practise this book, may be the language is not good enough or may be I cudnt get the focus this book deserve I am not sure but it was failure.
Rating:
Summary: Listen to your heart, not the reviewers (including me)
Review: I've noticed that some criticize Tolle for "expanding" the book or making it too long. But as Tolle himself notes, the book is written in a Q&A format where he tries to answer the same questions from different perspectives. Tolle also points out that the basic premise is not complicated, it just takes focus and practice. Others criticize Tolle for the impossible task of translating a mystical experience with words. Well, how else was he supposed to do it? Are there "mystical" media channels out there he should be communicating through? I have read endless numbers of books on finding oneself, reaching enlightenment, and so on, and none have rung true like Tolle's book. I have given it to many friends as a gift and only one found it difficult to grasp, the rest were deeply moved. But don't listen to me or others, check it out at the library, listen to it or read it and judge for yourself. As Tolle notes, he isn't "teaching" you anything - he's reminding you what you already know. Give it a try - it may indeed change your life.
Rating:
Summary: Comments on the book
Review: In looking over other reader's comments on this and Tolle's Practicing book as well, I thought I'd chime in with my thoughts.
From what many others have said there is something in this book that resonates on a very deep level in people. Other's have put it down stating that the information is regurgitated from other spiritual paths. I'd have to agree with those who have been positively affected by this book. I've had my fair share of exploring many spiritual paths, searching for that bit of hidden wisdom that was never there to start with.
For the past 15 years I've been a practicing Buddhist (if I had to label myself and what I do) I've always been wary of those who claim to have the knowledge and can transmit it to others through teachings. I've respect for the Lamas and Rinpoche's and all those in the Sangha but to me something still has not seems correct. So many "religions" place emphasis on what will happen if we don't do or be or think this or that. To even think this way is projecting something with our mind on a future that doesn't even exist. We create what we think will happen (Tolle calls this Psychological Time) in our minds and project this into another time and all the while completely forgetting that right now, we're here in this moment. It's a very simple idea. As I've typed this the moment has past and is now just a trace memory.
To those who say this is just regurgitated information from other spiritual paths, I'd say so what? Most religious systems overlap and some more than others. Buddhist/Hindu...Jewish/Christian/Muslim, etc. etc. What's important is how it affects the person absorbing the information.
I'd recommend reading this book even though I haven't completed it myself. I've read quite a bit and this is one that I can truely state I got something good out of in the first few pages.
If you're spirituality leads you to inquiring about the information in this book then I'd recommend you just read it. I typically do not decide to read or not read based on other peoples reviews or experiences because they are at heart, someone else's and not mine.
Read it...it's only a small amount of money compared to what you might truely get from it.
Rating:
Summary: Become who you really are
Review: Now is the only moment that ever is. The past and the future are both just concepts of physical consciousness. In reality, everything occurs now, only from different points of view. Eckhart Tolle provides a compendium of what living in the now really means. Only by being in the now, can you gain control of your life. The regrets of the past and the hopes of the future are all outside of your immediate control. By identifying with the eternal now, you gain the ability to address the challenges which face you now, and to become who you really are, in the now.
Rating:
Summary: A "simple" way to enlightenment is not this book
Review: Read "Ask and It is Given" instead of this book, and you will learn the very simplest way to become enlightened!!
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