Rating: 
Summary: Mostly, if not entirely, Nonsense
Review: The Power of Now is delusional escapism with lots of mumbo-jumbo to shore it up. If you loathe yourself or your other self, as the author claims to have at one time, then try living solely in the joyous Present, or Now, devoid of connections to the past or future. And that means turning off the analytical mind and avoiding virtually all emotions, which arise due to misguided thinking. When the author had his epiphany concerning the Now, he sat around on park benches for two years contemplating the grandeur of trees, and such. How nice for him, but probably not believable.
The entire book gives new meaning to the "ignorance is bliss" maxim. There is no profundity in stating repeatedly that actions and thoughts occur in the present. What is utterly simplistic is to dismiss their context and ramifications. The idea that people will develop fears or anxieties in contemplating the past or imaging the future is exaggerated. Growing up does involve learning to cope with those realities. Suggesting the blissful acceptance of "what is" seems no more than happy ignorance.
The author makes no effort to explain the basis of his depiction of people having a true self and a discordant self that thinks and emotes. He proposes that the true self "watch" the thinking self and thereby transcend that limiting behavior. One wonders if any thought is involved in the watching. It all seems like trite psychobabble or Freudian distortion. Though two hundred pages long, the book endlessly repeats its nonsensical contentions and could easily be reduced to no more than ten pages.
The author finds much of society dysfunctional. He might get no argument there. It's hard to see those withdrawn to an inner, true self, contemplating pure "Being" doing much about it. Thankfully many understand that society is a work in progress that requires much effort and thought in dealing with realities and that is very messy.
This is an easy-way-out book. Operating in a state of delusional nirvana is self-centered, fairy-tale stuff. We should be talking about getting smarter, citizen empowerment, ecological sustainability, reining in corporations, and the like. Living in the escapist Now/Me world is just pathetic.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Climb the Signpost
Review: Tolle's book is an important one... a much needed reminder that is too easy to forget. All too often people can pass entire lifetimes 'missing the moment.' One can, like the worst type of junkie, become so comfortable with-and so used to-anxiety, worry, and procrastination that to simply experience tranquility in the present becomes an impossibility. For such people, the simple and inspirational teachings that The Power of Now details can incite a revolution in one's experience of being alive. That being said, though, this book possesses flaws and confusions that must be sifted through using a keen sense of criticism (yes, this too, is an important faculty of the healthy human being).First of all, becoming present is a practice-not a realization. I'm not sure Tolle makes this clear. Like any 'new thing' the appreciation of the present moment can seem novel and exciting but if one doesn't make it a practice and use discipline to habitualize the practice, then one will have merely another gimmick, a spiritual toy to play with for a while and then put aside. The reason why all the schools of enlightenment require masters and students and instills its practitioners with discipline and a set of methods is because nothing in life comes all at once but must be cultivated with care over a period of time. Because of this truth, I genuinely doubt Tolle's claim that after his midnight awakening he was-all-at-once-transformed, never to require further training or practice. The experience he describes at the beginning of the book might just as well be labeled a psychotic break as a religious experience. Either way, the genuine appreciation of the moment can neither be totally 'on' nor totally 'off.' It is a variable experience that can be developed but will always remain part of the organic experience of being alive. Be wary of those who seem to show no anger, no sadness, no flaw... such people are usually very good actors and nothing more. Spend time with such people, in different types of contexts, to reveal the true human being. No unidimensional personality can exist in reality. We are always part of our context and environment and no matter our training or character can be expected to occasionally fall short of others' expectations. A guide to enlightenment, then, should teach us that enlightenment is neither a great distance away nor too near. It is thoughtful experience revealed through action and word. I have seen car mechanics who are enlightened beings when they work on cars but atrocious when with their families. I have met novelists who convey all the wisdom in the world through a pen but seem haughty and fractured in normal human conversation. And I have met spiritual 'masters' who secretly creep away to have sex for the sixth time in a day or to check their stocks on the internet. Enlightenment is a myth, and some people treat it like a commodity to purchase or sell. To live well requires the experience of the present-often-but not all the time and in all situations. Joseph Campbell once expressed the opinion that the type of enlightenment we have become familiar with is unique to a conception of self that was once fairly common in Asia. The type of self most moderns live by, especially we very 'special' Westerners with our love for 'Individuality' and 'Self-Expression,' excludes the possibility of such an experience. Perhaps it is time, then, we drop this idea and redefine what enlightenment should mean now-and to people like us. Use this book as a pointer and compass, not as a map. The Buddha said it best, Be Lamps Unto Yourselves. I would add-and don't hide from the dark when it comes.
Rating: 
Summary: Those who resist, insist
Review: Well, I am glad to read all those who think this book is codswallop.
Those who insist on judging the book as negative, do it by criticising the man "see his website?" "uses the same crap language as other new-age books"
An insistance on using names and putting down, and a sense of deep seriousness/importance
Thats what you get in this ego society. But as Eckhardt says "arguements are a way of surviving. Wars have been created to win arguements" so for all the critics, keep criticising, but one day you will need to face what you are saying this book is so crap about.
For those who are attracted to this book, I say start practicing now! For $20 you can get a guide to how to live in the moment, which makes all those not in the moment very very funny.
Then go out and create, make this a way of living, then teach for those willing to listen.
For those sitting on the fence, my advice: read it, take what you need to take, then move on. He is not your guru, you are your own. This, of course, is the way to enlightnment, but by taking the responsibility yourself, there are no more excuses.
That fear that Eckhardt talks about is truly able to be overcome.
So, read & pass it on, and bring others in as fire to your flame.
Then we can move on from being a world so easily manipulated by the Murdochs and Bushes, manipulated by ads that want you to consume, and gets you in touch with the planet so you arent sucked in by greenwash.
Teach the kids how to be in the now (or how to stay being in the now) and we will have a changed society within 50 years.
So, its not so much a review of the book and taking apart its syntax, but using the advice he has to help change and bring to equilibrium
Have a great read!
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