Cheap The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (Book) (Eckhart Tolle) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

This gem is full of deep yet practical wisdom
This book is a real gem, to say the least. Eckhart Tolle is able to explain very deep and fundamental issues about life, ourself (body, mind, pure consciousness), and the universe in simple words, making this universal wisdom surprisingly accessible. For instance, Mr. Tolle brilliantly explains the fascinating concepts of time and space and their relationship to our mind and its processes and pitfalls, in other words, their relationship to the way we experience our life. This practical book contains important portals to disidentify from the mind/ego and to be in touch more deeply with our true inner self by entering the eternal now and, as a result, becoming more and more liberated from the past and the future. The book is written in a captivating format using highly relevant questions and answers. While reading or listening (the unabridged audio book is very inspirational too!) your consciousness will shift profoundly. It is a mind-blowing read/listening experience, even literally speaking ;-) In case you are looking for a meditation practice that perfectly fits in with these pure insights and pragmatic 'exercises/portals' bringing inner peace and joy on a day-to-day basis.

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mind
I read a review that said a lot of readers hate this book. Hate seems a little strong. Who hates it? Minds hate the idea of being called a tool. If you read Power of Now with your mind, you probably won't finish it. If you do as Eckert says and not get hung up on the words, they will pass right through your mind and kindle your spirit.

The downside of the book is that it removes all excuses - now that we know, we must act. I believe that this book may usher in the "New Age" - it could be the catalyst that gives humanity the strength to raise it's consciousness. Groups may form, energy will concentrate, others will be attracted. Many spiritual teachers speak of a planetary transformation during the generation beginning in the eighties. It would indeed be a transformation if we all lived in the Now. No more madness.

This is the 261st review. I seriously doubt that many people read all the reviews. But if you get this far and still haven't decided, put another vote on the "read it" side. Savor it. Languish over it. Let it wash over you like a warm bath. Now that I think of it, get the tapes and listen to his voice. The sounds make the words vibrate, and are more likely to pass through your brain. I was going to say "read it, you won't be disappointed", but I can't since apparently many have been. It's one of those "love" "hate" things - not much neutral.

Give it a shot - what have you got to lose. Just some of your mind, that's all.

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Don't Climb the Signpost
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.