Title: “The Power of Now”

Author: Eckhart Tolle

Overall Rating: Absolutely life-changing.

Anyone who reads this book and practices the techniques and advice that Tolle gives will experience at least some level of spiritual growth.

Who should read this book:

Just about anyone can benefit from this book. If you are looking to grow spiritually in your life, I highly recommend picking this book up–more so than with any other book I can think of. “The Power of Now” makes an excellent starting point.

Who might want to skip it:

No one that I can think of. I really think it can help just about anyone.

So what is this book about, anyway? Give me the scoop!

Like I already stated above, this is a life changing book, and can definitely have a big impact on your overall level of serenity. Here are some of the key concepts that I got out of reading it:

The Trap of Psychological Time

One of the biggest ideas to take away from The Power of Now is that most people are postponing their happiness. They have a little mental deal worked out in there head where they are saying to themselves: “If I can just get this certain job, then I will be happy.” or “If I can just get this relationship to work out, then I will be happy,” or “If I could just make more money and get all caught up with my bills and have lots of spending money, then I would finally be happy.” This is a ridiculous mental game that almost everyone plays with themselves, and it is a dead end road that will never lead to lasting happiness. Why is this?

Because tomorrow never comes – Every time one of the “goals” is finally reached, a new goal drops into place and the “happiness bar” gets raised again. Lots of people out there are caught in this prison of psychological time, telling themselves that they will be happy someday, once they finally achieve a certain goal. And it never happens. The bar always gets raised, and their happiness remains elusive. This is one of the key points of the book, and one that is well worth learning: you can escape the trap of psychological time and make a decision to be happy right now, in this very moment. How? By becoming present, increasing your awareness, and appreciating deeply whatever is right in front of you. Stop waiting for some fantasy fun-day that will never come and start enjoying your life. Right now.

You are not your mind

This was a huge revelation for me, and also one of the key concepts of this book. I have a tendency to identify with my mind. In other words, I think that the little thinking voice inside of my head is me. That’s me. In The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle encourages you to do an experiment and try meditating for a moment. If you sit still and be very quiet and just meditate for a moment, you will notice that thoughts pop into and out of your head at times, while at other times your mind is silent and quiet. Eventually another thought will pop in though. The fact that you can observe this phenomenon is the essence behind the mind that is “you.” You have become the watcher of your thoughts. This presence that watches the thoughts arises from your being; from beyond the mind.

Accept the Present Moment – Because that’s all there is!

You might reminisce about the past or make projections about the future, but that is all happening in your mind right now. The ever-changing present moment is all there is. It is existence. “Tomorrow” is a fiction and does not really exist. Imagine a bug that you are going to squash with your thumb. Does “tomorrow” exist for that bug? The present is all we ever have. So how does this fact help us in our daily lives? We can choose to accept what is happening–right now–that is going on around us, or we can struggle against it. Struggling against it will only cause us pain and suffering. Acceptance will allow us to open up and deeply appreciate the details in life.

Anything that wasn’t so great about the book?

There is a bit of repetition throughout the book, as Tolle keeps returning to previous concepts and revisiting them and explaining them all over and over again–but each time in a slightly different way. This is both good and bad, as you are then more likely to remember the concepts and techniques that he suggests, but for some, it will be a bit too repetitive. The ideas and concepts were profound enough to me and I was excited enough to be reading it that I personally did not mind this repetition at all. Tolle steadily introduced new concepts throughout the book–just enough to keep it interesting, but going over them all thoroughly enough that it was easy to remember them. In that sense, I thought the pace of the book was just fine.

Conclusion

You really can’t go wrong with this one. Buy this book and supercharge your life.