“The Power of Now” – Personal Development Book Review
“The Power of Now” is a philosophical guide to attaining spiritual enlightenment by living fully in the present moment. The author, Eckhart Tolle, points out that it’s easy to get distracted by the past, the future, and the constant chatter of our minds. But he contends the only true reality is the *now*.
This book challenged me personally in some big ways. Like many people, I’m very connected to the past, future, and my mind. I get nostalgic about the past, enchanted by the future, and my “thoughts on the good life” provide me meaning and happiness.
But intellectually, I understand that *now* is when everything happens. So I read this book with both skepticism and an open mind. Ultimately, I found some gems that ring true, and I want to remember them. I’ll share them with you in this blog article:
Divine Purpose
I’ll start by pointing out that Tolle, seems to believe in the goodness and potential of humanity. He says: “You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold. That is how important you are!” It’s kind of empowering to think about human lives in such a positive way.
You are not your mind
Tolle talks about “freeing yourself from your mind” and “rising above thought”. This is a tough concept for me to grasp, because I see our minds as valuable tools. We spend our entire lives developing our minds through education and discipline. But Tolle believes that the mind is the greatest obstacle to enlightenment. He says we must evolve past our thinking minds, and become aware of our true spiritual essence, so we can “watch the thinker” and experience presence, reality, and enlightenment. He says this observation will, paradoxically, enhance the ability and sharpness of our minds.
Consciousness is the way out of pain
“The Power of Now” acknowledges all people experience pain and sorrow. But Tolle asserts that most human pain is unnecessary. He says that we sometimes hold past traumas within us as an emotional “pain body”. Tolle says, left unchecked, the pain body can take over our lives, become part of our identities, and even become enjoyable in a self-defeating way. He says the negative influence of the pain body can be contagious among groups of people. Tolle says we need to protect ourselves from the pain body. He says we can minimize the effect of the pain body through conscious awareness of the pain’s presence, avoiding resistance to it, recognizing that the pain is not part of you, and by letting go of it.
Move deeply into the now
Tolle says time is an illusion and “nothing exists outside of the now”. He suggests we should give up of our “identification with the past and continuous compulsive projection into the future”. Tolle suggests we can let go of time and experience the freedom of timelessness. By doing this, we can experience “the joy of being”. It’s a bit of a challenge for me to let go of time, because I’m very aware of the limited durations of our lives, as well as the need for time management day-to-day, and also the need to plan for the future. But I do like to really get into the moment, occasionally forget time altogether, and live each moment as it comes. And I love getting deeply engaged in life and experiencing a flow state.
The state of presence
In “The Power in Now”, Tolle explains his belief that that “beauty arises in the stillness of your presence”. He says beauty, truth, and the opportunity for enlightenment are always there; we just have to tap into them through “realizing pure consciousness” in the now – anytime, anywhere. He says enlightenment is always accessible. I like the idea of being open and alert to enlightenment and joy even when stuck in traffic, waiting in line, or enduring any otherwise unpleasant experience. Tolle says these moments are opportunities to experience the now and enlightenment.
The higher good beyond good and bad
Tolle says, “when you live in complete acceptance of what is – which is the only sane way to live – there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in your life anymore. There is only a higher good – which includes the bad.” I love this concept and have always believed this to be true in a way. Obviously, there are some terrible realities in the world, that I don’t want to validate as “okay”, and I believe we should work to right those wrongs. But I also believe there is always something good, or an opportunity for good, or the seed of something good within everything good and bad. For me, I feel like this is true, because I believe love is the very essence of existence. I was happy to see Tolle says that’s how he sees it too.
Much more in the book
So as you can see, there are a lot of complex, challenging philosophical ideas in “The Power of Now”. This blog article just scratches the surface of what’s in the book. “The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment” by Eckhart Tolle is a #1 New York Times bestseller, with over 5 million copies sold. It was published in 1999. I was recently introduced to this book by my medical sales job book club, and I’m glad. If you’re intrigued by what you’ve read here, you might want to read the book for yourself.
Thanks for reading Thoughts on the Good Life. I wish you a beautiful holiday season.
