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The Power of Now

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mockiboo

I agree, I found it on auto book and it is the author own voice, a very interesting read, listen

Nick

Thanks for the recommendation. Certainly, the ego can get in the way of any spiritual development, and a book on overcoming those built up layers is an important read.

Very best,
"What lies before us, and what lies behind us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us...." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

kifyre

This book screwed me up for a bit, but it was mostly my ignorance. I believe the author has found peace, but I feel that his attempt to convey that peace is flawed. This book is valuable, but it is only a small piece of the puzzle.

Recontacting the body, fully inhabiting the body, is only the first step. The author states that this is only a gateway, but he doesn't really give much else to go on. To use Ken Wilber's terminology, the body is prerational, not transrational. There's no lasting peace in hiding in your senses.

If you're looking for a little consolation, some nice relaxing reading, a break, a little guidance on how to inhabit the body and relax, then this is a decent book, a stepping-stone.

If you're depressed, suffering, or overwhelmed with life, do not get lost in this book. It's a new-agey band-aid and won't solve anything.

Mark

beavis

I havent read the book, but from my experience...

NOW is very powerful. We tend to think about the past and future too much. If I do something then something else will happen. Or what would have happened if I didnt do something a few seconds ago? By thinking about only NOW, which sounds easy but is very hard to do, paranormal abilities are instantly available, and gone with the first thought of time.

If you get some ability and want to use it to your advantage on earth, you think about what it will do for you in the FUTURE, which prevents you from doing it. Instead, what can it do for you NOW?

Kenneth

The main topic of this book is, that enlightenment is possible each and every moment of your life - it is merely one step away. Enlightenment is NOT at the end of a very long journey - The enlightenment (In Tolle's view) is to be able to BE ABSOLUTELY IN NOW. Nothing more, nothing less

But, that is also the tricky part of it!... There are numorous obstackles, that we each put up as barriers for our self - and Tolle has (IMO) a GREAT understanding of these barriers - and what "tools" we as humans can use to help us!

Like time ... Huuu ?!?, how can Time be a barrier? Well, how much can you be in NOW, if you are thinking about the Exams TOMORROW, or how you SHOULD have presented your studies yesterday?. (Or how much you REALLY want to achieve enlightenment when you are good enough, educated enough, etc. etc).

Tolle introduces Clock-time (used when planning how you will do your work, or using the knowledge from an earlier situation, wich is OK), compared to Emotional-time, that is when you are somewhere in the future, or in the past (through Thoughts or feelings), instead of being in NOW - like the Exams example.

The Mind .... Yup, the one and only - our thoughts, our Ego-defence - the one we (my self included!) actually use to find "enlightenment" with. Here i found a piece of information, that our mind and/or Egodefence CAN NOT SURVIVE without us beliving in the "illusion" of time, and that our mind egodefence is one of the MAIN obstacles for us finding peace and enlightenment.

The (I am not sure how to translate this from Danish - here it is called <Smertelegemet>, but something like "The Emotional Pain-body" or something like that ... Where we store the resistance of the moments, where we did NOT accept the WHOLE NOW. (Like if you are in great emotional pain, and you try to "run" from that pain, years later you are in a similar situation, that the new pain gets mingled with the OLD pain, and creates a much stronger pain/feeling).

One of the main tools that Tolle describes is the "Observer" inside of us - the ability to silently stand by, and observe what goes on inside our mind, and our emotions - without judging or analyzing(!), just accepting NOW.

A person asks Tolle - "How can I achieve what you got?" (meaning the peace and enlightenment), and Tolle answers "You allready got it, it's just you mind that is creating to much noise for you to feel it"


I allready look forward to reading this book again!


/Kenneth

--- One thing at a time, be in NOW, and be gentle to yourself ---

--- Your biggest obstacle is most of the time also your most powerfull startingpoint ---

rodentmouse

yeh  the power of NOW is a good book and reinforced a lot of  my ideas about  how our egos supress our freedom..
To me, living in the now is  a permenently meditating,  just constantly  having a still mind.
This book  indirectly  explains the goal of some eastern lifestyles/religions (e.g. yoga, buddhism) but in a more user friendly, western way without any religious connotation. Which is a step in the right direction for all beleif systems/lifestyles.

The biggest enigma  about  living in the now for me is the fact that were having to abandon  the use of thought and daydreams.  If we live in the now  all the time  can we not daydream anymore?  or speculate on whos  gonna win the next election etc...

All mental commentary like  "i wonder, how come,  why?, where?, i wish, she looks nice, thats good/bad"  etc...    are to be eliminated if we want freedom.   If  its to be like this i  dont understand how  people can  form opinions or beleifs on anything.

i  do like the self examination stuff though,  like now  for example, as i type this post,  i bring  my  hands up from typing to bite my nails for a moment-   does  this suggest that i am hoping that my post will be an interesting read? is it making me nervous?  I take that self examination stuff wherever i go-  if a pretty girl is sitting opposite me on the bus,  i observe as much as i can what is going on inside me- its usually nerves.

Tolle  IMO  doesnt emphasise the  importance of meditation in his book, when really  living in the now and meditation are the same thing.  Some  people  would find  practical meditation tecniques easier than simply abandoning the ego just like that.



WalkerInTheWoods

I just wanted to put my approval on this book and say that I highly recommend putting this on anyone's reading list.
Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.

Lighthouse

Ditto on what fallnangel said.  I have been consciously practicing Mindfulness thanks to a little encouragement from Fallnangel and galacticsurfer and here's the thread and my response to them just yesterday: http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11723

It's amazing how when applied to daily living, the BLISS one can access (without having to be in the present all day long)  just little moments of living in the NOW have made an amazing effect on my overall state over the past few days... I feel like I'm on lithium, and It's really all because of living in NOW.

Kerri
[:D][:D][:D]
http://www.divinewithin.com - Uncovering the Divine Within
http://www.worldawakened.com - World Awakened
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldawakened - World Awakened Talk Radio
http://www.innercirclepublishing.com - InnerCircle Publishing

Talon213

My mother recently bought that book. She's almost finished with it, and has really enjoyed it. I look forward to reading it when she's done.

Ides315

By Eckhart Tolle

This is a very good book on overcoming ego, and getting in touch with you inner self. It is not geared to or promoting any particular philosophy except making the connection with your self and wiping away all of the built up layers one accumulates over the years.

Written in a question/answer format, it is an easy read that (personally anyway) has results as one lets the message sink in. I would recomend this book to just about everyone no matter where you are in development.

Best to you

Telos

(while I'm in the habit of bringing back old threads...)

Quote from: kifyreThis book screwed me up for a bit, but it was mostly my ignorance. I believe the author has found peace, but I feel that his attempt to convey that peace is flawed. This book is valuable, but it is only a small piece of the puzzle.

Recontacting the body, fully inhabiting the body, is only the first step. The author states that this is only a gateway, but he doesn't really give much else to go on. To use Ken Wilber's terminology, the body is prerational, not transrational. There's no lasting peace in hiding in your senses.

If you're looking for a little consolation, some nice relaxing reading, a break, a little guidance on how to inhabit the body and relax, then this is a decent book, a stepping-stone.

If you're depressed, suffering, or overwhelmed with life, do not get lost in this book. It's a new-agey band-aid and won't solve anything.

Mark

I agree with everything you said, and can relate. I read this book around the time I broke up with my girlfriend of 3 years, and began seriously believing that I could do god-like things, winning the lottery, that kind of stuff. My girlfriend was very worried and scared, and left, and has never spoken to me since she found another boyfriend. "How odd," I thought, "once my girlfriend was in the Now, and now she wasn't!"

I certainly cannot blame this book for my own ignorance. But, personal life stories aside, this book is very serious in its claims and also very wishy-washy. Read it responsibly, just as Mark said.

Tom

It is one of those kinds of books which should be read more than once, at intervals. It means more each time.