Being in the present (the “here and now”), mindfulness and meditation are often suggested to counteract our increasingly busy, digital and stressed lives. “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle is a spiritual guide that emphasizes the importance of living fully in the present moment. It blends mindfulness, psychology and spirituality to help readers break free from negative thought patterns and suffering. I sometimes suggest this book to therapy clients as a psychoeducation tool to help them explore their path through anxiety to feeling more peace. I suggest it to those who search for meaning in their lives and others who wonder how to accommodate their spirituality. This short book (originally published in 1998) provides a guide to those who want to be more present. Book Review: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment).
Why should you read The Power of Now?
Tolle originally wrote the book as the first thirty years of his life were lived in “almost continuous anxiety interspersed with periods of suicidal depression”. He then noticed his key thought: “I cannot live with myself any longer” inferred two elements of being – “I” and “myself”.
With advocacy from Oprah Winfrey, it reached #1 on the New York Times best seller list. The book has been read by several million readers worldwide and is accredited with transforming human consciousness.
Most people know that therapy accommodates their cognitive and emotional reactions. But therapy can also tackle struggles with spirituality and understanding the purpose of life (sometimes referred to as transpersonal and existential psychology). This can be challenging for those who are highly cognitive – whose profession relies on the laser-like acuity of their problem-solving skills. Many in the professions – lawyers, accountants and surveyors – can struggle with being present.
The book is written in an interesting question and answer format. Many of the questions echoing the confusion, doubts and objections that I was formulating as I read.
I will admit that after enthusiastically reading and enjoying the first 100 pages or so, I reached parts where I felt discomforted or cynical. At times it feels a little repetitive, conceptual and even patronising. On more than one occasion I stopped to consider whether I thought it was brilliant or bulls**t. Perhaps this is because the book challenges a lot of Western thinking (myths such as humanity reaching its pinnacle of development, being completely separate from each other etc). But that’s my journey and yours may be different.
The author draws on many of the world’s religions to illustrate his points – Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and sometimes Surfism (Islam). He often refers – in a non-religious way – to the one true source within. Preferring to talk of “being” rather than God (as he sees the latter as a closed concept). You don’t need to be religious to read and take value from this book. It will help you focus on the present – to look around in curiosity and wonder. And to find peace and joy in the moment – regardless of what has happened in the past or might occur in the future.
The author promotes the benefits of inner body awareness (he advises you to read with your mind but notice any feelings you experience in response), letting go of self-identification and relinquishing mental and emotional resistance to the present moment. He urges you to quieten the stream of involuntary and incessant thinking. And he provides guidance on how to find that rare inner peace.
The book is a valuable contribution to transpersonal therapy and existentialism – with frequent links to the Gestalt tradition (The Fertile Void – Gestalt coaching at work by John Leary-Joyce). You are shown how to free yourself form enslavement of the mind, enter into this enlightened state of consciousness and sustain it in everyday life…
Key Ideas in The Power of Now
It’s not an easy read. And some of the concepts are hard to get your mind around.
The mind as an obstacle – Excessive thinking and identification with the mind create unnecessary suffering. He argues that the ego and constant mental chatter keep people trapped in anxiety and regret.
The power of presence – The core message of the book is that true peace and happiness come from focusing on the “Now” rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.
Freedom from time – Tolle distinguishes between “clock time” (practical use of time for planning) and “psychological time” (living in past trauma or future worries).
Observing the mind –Become aware of your thoughts without identifying with them. This helps create a gap between your true self and the mind’s habitual patterns.
Pain-Body concept – Tolle introduces the idea of the “pain-body,” which is an accumulation of past emotional pain that fuels negativity and suffering. By being fully present, you can dissolve its power.
Surrender and acceptance – Accept the present moment as it is, without resistance, to reach inner peace. Surrender isn’t passive, but stops unnecessary suffering.
Connect with the “Inner Being” – By staying present, people can connect with their deeper essence, which is beyond thoughts and emotions.
Practical Takeaways:
- Practice mindfulness by focusing on your breath and bodily sensations
- Observe your thoughts without judgement
- Let go of attachments to past pain and future anxieties
- Embrace silence and stillness to connect with your true self
- Accept each moment as it is rather than resisting it
The Power of Now book contents
- Introduction
- You are not your mind
- Consciousness: The way out of pain
- Moving deeply into the now
- Mind strategies for avoiding the now
- The state of presence
- The inner body
- Portals into the unmanifested
- Enlightened relationships
- Beyond happiness and unhappiness there is peace
- The meaning of surrender
A walk through The Power of Now
The introduction refers to Abraham Maslow’s “peak experiences” where there is an intense focus on the “here and now” (a feature of Gestalt therapy The Fertile Void – Gestalt coaching at work by John Leary-Joyce. ). Moments when we find ourselves momentarily stunned. When, for a brief moment, we come home to our True Self. The author asks “Who are we?” and “What is the nature of the universe in which we live?”
Only in stillness can you become truly creative. As creative break throughs often came at a time of mental quietude. I guess this links to Mihály Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of “flow” where you are so absorbed in one activity that time stands still.
Emotion is the body’s reaction to the mind. There’s value in just “being” – in your own presence. Like the modern advice to unplug from your digital devices, you should unplug from your brain and its busy thinking.
80% to 90% of most people’s thinking is repetitive and useless. And, because of its dysfunctional and often negative nature, much of it is also harmful. It is always concerned with keeping the past alive, because without it – who are you?
An emotion is the mind’s reflection in the body. A hostile thought will create a build up of energy we call anger. The thought of threat causes the body to contract – the physical side of what we call fear. He talks about the origin of fear in its many forms: unease, worry, anxiety, nervousness, tension, dread, phobia and so on. There’s the fear of loss, failure and being hurt. Added to this continuous sense of threat, it also includes a deep sense of abandonment and incompleteness. One of the main tasks of the mind is fight or remove that emotional pain. Our deep-seated sense of incompleteness may manifest as conscious feelings of not being worthy or good enough.
I detected underlying cultural tensions between individualistic and collectivist societies here. There’s a powerful section on ending the delusion of time. I was reminded of the work by Ken Wilbur’s book “No Boundary: Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth”. The theme is mindfulness – Connecting to the now where you are free of problems, free of thinking and free from the burden of personality. He reminds us of the question from the Zen master Rinzai “What, at this moment, is lacking?”. He argues that negativity and suffering have their roots in time.
He moves onto the joy of being. And our mind strategies for avoiding the now. There are reminders that the great religions warn about anxiety and constant wanting and craving. He poses a great question “Am I at ease in the moment?” He mentions that unhappiness spreads easily (see What Is Emotional Contagion Theory? (Definition & Examples). And how complaining is always nonacceptance of what is. There’s guidance on how to use gratitude and breathing to calm yourself.
Life’s journey has an outer purpose and an inner purpose. The inner purpose is not about where you are going or what you are doing but everything to do with how. Ultimately it is about developing better self-awareness and your ability to monitor and control your thoughts and feelings. We should strive for a state of intense presence – where you are free of thought and inhabit your body fully. There’s guidance on connecting with the inner body. And a nice metaphor about seeing being connected to your inner body like a tree that is deeply rooted in the earth.
At about page 100, I felt somewhat overwhelmed with the conceptual discussion. Especially with talk of unmanifested. Ironically, I was craving advice on what to feel or do, rather than what to think. There was an idea that awareness of the inner body slows down the aging of the physical body. And strengthens the immune system (Book reviews on stress and trauma – “When the body says No”). He offers some simple exercises to support this.
It temporarily diverts to the art of listening (my favourite book on this topic You’re not listening – What you’re missing)
Meditation and visualisation are advocated. Suggesting the unmanifested (stillness) is the source of the Eastern concept of Chi (movement). He considers links between manifested and unmanifested – the state of connectedness with the Source that we call enlightenment. Dreamless sleep, silence, space and death are all portals. There are some mind-bending ideas here – such as “only when sound appears does silence come into being”. After mentioning Einstein’s space-time continuum, he states there are two essential attributes of “God” – infinity and eternity.
There’s some surprising advice on “love” and relationships where we almost edge into couples therapy. Relationships can oscillate between love and hate and their drama makes them feel alive. He suggests that addiction is the search for wholeness. He observes that if relationships experience both love and the opposite of love then it is likely confusing ego attachment and addictive clinging (see my relationships like rollercoaster rides? Volatile relationships). Intimate relationships do not cause pain and unhappiness – they bring out the pain and unhappiness that is already in you. The greatest catalyst for change in a relationship is complete acceptance of your partner as he or she is, without needing to judge or change them in any way.
He refers to the possibility of the inner child demanding love and attention. And offers an interesting perspective on why he believes women are closer to enlightenment. I wasn’t sure how gay people would react to his comment “you are one half of the whole – this incompleteness is felt as male-female attraction” but then he adds that being gay can be a help.
Beyond happiness and unhappiness there is peace. Because happiness depends on conditions being perceived as positive: inner peace does not. He observes that for many people limitation, failure, loss, illness or pain turned out to be their greatest teacher. “Whenever anything negative happens to you, there is a deep lesson concealed within it” (I would testify to that – see Disabled and down but definitely not out – A story of hope after a year). He wisely remarks that when it comes to death, you cannot be happy but you can be at peace: “acceptance immediately frees you from mind dominance and thus reconnects you with Being”.
Echoing one of my favourite songs by Mary J. Blige there’s a section on “The end of your life drama”. Namely, conflict, problems, power struggles, emotional or physical violence. There’s a notion of cycles of success and failure – with the point that dissolution is needed for new growth to happen. Also acknowledging that there are times of high and low energy and stagnant times (I like to refer to the idea of “no man’s land” from the brilliant book by William Bridges on Transitions – Your personal transition – Endings, neutral zone and new beginnings)
He states that negativity is totally unnatural – it is a psychic pollutant. I chuckled at his statement “I have lived with several Zen masters – all of them cats”. Helpful advice that whenever you notice some form of negativity within you, use it as a signal to wake up, get out of your mind and be present. He refers here to Aldous Huxley’s book “Island” where parrots constantly state “Attention. Here and Now”. This, he argues, leaves you impervious to the negativity of others.
There’s a powerful metaphor in “the nature of compassion“. He suggests you imagine your life as a lake – the surface can be calm or rough but deep down, it is always undisturbed. He suggests that compassion is the awareness of a deep bond between yourself and all creatures. I like this as it is at the heart of Native American beliefs. He reflects that animals don’t have egos and don’t think about death – but they die.
Surrender means yielding to, rather than opposing, the flow of life. Although this doesn’t stop you taking action – for example, to move yourself from harm’s way. He talks of surrender in relationships, and also when faced with illness. Transforming suffering into peace.
Favourite quotes from The Power of Now
- Enlightenment is simply your natural state of felt oneness with Being – a state of connectedness with something immeasurable and in destructible.
- Enlightenment is a state of wholeness, of being “at one” and therefore at peace
- Not being able to stop thinking is a dreadful affliction – the incessant inner noise prevents you from finding that realm of inner stillness
- So the single most vital step on your journey toward enlightenment is this: learn to disidentify from your mind
- Enlightenment means rising above thought
- If you really want to know your mind, the body will always give you a truthful reflection
- Glimpses of love or brief moments of deep peace are possible whenever a gap occurs in the stream of thought.
- Emotion literally means “disturbance”. The word comes from the Latin emovere – meaning “to disturb”
- Love, joy and peace are deep states of Being or rather three aspects of the state of inner connectedness with Being. Pleasure is always derived from something outside you whereas joy arises from within
- Are you always trying to get somewhere other than where you are? Is most of your doing just a means to an end?
- In a true emergency, the mind stops; you become totally present in the Now, and something infinitely more powerful takes over
- Stress is caused by being “here” but wanting to be “there” or being in the present but wanting to be in the future
- Give attention to the present, give attention to your behaviour, to your reactions, moods, thoughts, emotions, fears and desires as they occur in the present.
- Presence is needed to become aware of the beauty, the majesty, the sacredness of nature
- There is an Eastern saying “The teacher and the taught together create the teaching”
- Compulsive thinking has become a collective disease
- Every addiction arises from an unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain
- If you continue to pursue the goal of salvation through a relationship, you will be disillusioned again and again
- Learn to give expression to what you feel without blaming
- A victim identity is the belief that the past is more powerful than the present
- In the state of enlightenment, you are yourself – “you” and “yourself” merge into one.
- “Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?” (Marcus Aurelius)
- “No one who is at one with himself can even conceive of conflict“ (A course in Miracles)
Related posts on mental health and therapy
Please also refer to my therapy site: Tasso Talking Therapy
There is also a Facebook page “Kim Talking Therapy” where I post material regularly on the themes of therapy and mental health.
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