The Power of Now
Ratings121
Average rating3.7
I listened to this as an audio book, as recommended to me by a friend. Tolle's voice is monotone, which is calming, but also can get dry and difficult to pay attention to (the irony!). But there were great points for me to digest, enough so that I think I'll buy the print book so I can annotate and move back and forth more organically. Would recommend the same for others.
EDIT - I read the print book and can absolutely confirm it is much easier to absorb. Isn't it a great irony that something that should be so simple (the present) can be so complex? Great quotes in here but, speaking for myself, I had to be in the right mood/setting to appreciate it.
Disturbed by the amount of confident incorrectness in his statements. “Animals don't know negativity”, “Menstrual flows are the collective pain of all women in past history”, “all love is the love of God”, etc. He has no proof whatsoever, his arguments are based on overgeneralisations. Yet, he's extremely confident that what he's saying is the truth.
Making opinions sound objective by false dialogue is not the way to convince me to believe you.
While I've enjoyed the emphasis of Now theory, Eckhart's overconfident argumentations and scornful way of providing them gives me a know-it-all-guru and cult-like vibe. That doesn't sit well with me, because I've learned no truth can be 100% sure.
2,5/5, wouldn't recommend, but there are valuable insights about suffering and presence.
Simply didn't love it as much as everyone else. Was really hard to finish & was staying optimistic. Ironically, it's extremely boring. I love spirituality books. I did not enjoy this. Maybe it would've been different if I wasn't already experienced in the genre.
Honestly, I wanted to like it.
I got to know why it is what it is and managed to have some insights here and there, but man... does it annoy me how his writing is so condescending at times.
There's obviously a lot wrong with this book and its condescending tone. But, if you can focus on the parts about attention and ignore the spiritual gibberish (energy fields, inner light, vibration frequencies, quantum jumps, resonance, captured life energy etc), there's some solid advice in here - especially in the first half. Afterwards it all kind of derails.
I have no idea why I've seen this book on so many recommended lists. He gets a star for a few good nuggets on basic mindfulness, but otherwise comes off sounding like a self-appointed prophet of esoteric nonsense. There is no science, there are no citations and he freely twists quotes from (insert religious figure here) while talking down to the reader, as if spending a year sleeping on park benches has granted him valid credentials.
I practice meditation daily and read a lot in the personal growth/mindfulness categories, so it's not like I had it out for this book. The few good lines were in the first half, after which I started speed-reading as it went steadily downhill. Upon seeing that the last half inch of pages does not consist of citations, like most other books I read, I'm moving this puzzler to unfinished and moving on with my life.
If you're interested in mindfulness and learning to be more present in your life, read something by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Or better yet, get yourself a subscription to Headspace and start practicing it.
DNF - Audiobook
I stopped at about 35%, chapter 7.
It was good content on changing your thinking associated with time and how things only happen in the ‘now', but then it got too weird for me. The book is written in a Q&A style which had its pros and cons. This is probably better for someone that has a better understanding of sprititual enlightenment, but it was too far from my personal beliefs that I couldn't grasp it.
Originally published in the late 1990s, The Power of Now was written after its author, Eckhart Tolle, had an epiphany at age 29 and became “enlightened”. The book achieved huge success once it was recommended by popular talkshow host Oprah Winfrey.
The author holds some very strong beliefs which almost feel like his own religion in a way. This may turn you off if you are fairly anti-religious or already follow a religion.
He also makes some (to me, dubious) claims about his teachings. For example, that it will help you age slower, and strengthen your immune system.
(Although I was left feeling sceptical as I read his claims, I am open to acknowledging that his teachings could help lower your stress, which in turn probably helps you to stay healthy and live a little bit longer).
Nonetheless, for all that I disliked about the book I still enjoyed it enough to write this blog post about it!Acknowledge the thoughts in your head, and let go
People spend almost all of their time thinking. Sometimes, we might dwell on things that have happened to us in the past, or worry about things that might happen in the future.
Holding onto these thoughts isn’t very useful. It prevents us from enjoying the “now” because we spend so much time stuck in the past or the future.
When these thoughts come into your head, you should take a step back and observe the thought impartially. Don’t beat yourself up about these negative thoughts either (because that’s just creating more negative thoughts). Acknowledge it, and by acknowledging it you’ll have an easier time of letting it go.
In a way, a lot of what Eckhart Tolle talks about is very similar to the concept of mindfulness, which you may be familiar with. Using meditation apps like [Headspace](https://www.headspace.com/mindfulness) can help you to hone your mindfulness skill, even for as little as 5 - 10 minutes a day.
Don’t yearn for happiness in the future, because you’re never going to get there
This is something I’m very guilty of. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking “I’ll be happy once I attain X” or “I’ll be happy when I become Y”. But the truth is that you’ll reach that milestone, and then you’ll set yourself another one! You’ll forever be chasing happiness in the future, when instead you should be focusing on happiness in the “now”.
Being happy today is easier said than done. I recently listened to an audiobook, Habits for Happiness, which gave a couple of tips:
* Every day, think of three things that you are grateful for
* Make sure to get enough sleep, and regularly exercise
* Create a vision board for yourself that outlines all the things you want to achieve to be happy
* Set yourself goals to work towards achieving your vision
I love goal setting and creating vision boards, although it technically does seem to conflict with what Eckhart Tolle talks about. I think the way to approach it is that it’s okay to have a vision, but you have to enjoy the process of getting there, rather than putting off the enjoyment for until you get there.
## Conclusion
As much as I rolled my eyes at some of what Tolle had to say, I still did feel that this book had an impact on me. Especially during this pandemic I sometimes do feel myself struggling a little bit and this book was a helpful reminder to spend less time worrying or yearning and to try to enjoy the “now”.
From looking at its reviews on Goodreads, if you are already fairly familiar with meditation, zen or other spiritual books I would give this one a miss. However if you are fairly new to the topic (like me) and are open to books on spirituality or willing to look past the dodgy bits, I would recommend giving this book a go.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
