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Title: The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
ISBN: 1577312082
Author:
Publicate Date: 2001-12-10
Publish: 2001-12-10
List Price: $39.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Audio CD
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $20.75
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $16.99
Amazon Merchant Price: $26.37
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1: Tolle's book is well written and it explains very complex issues
I only gave it four stars because it's heavy reliance on acim (a course in miracles) and the wondering style from spirituality to self-help and relationship counselling. Having said this, Tolle is dead on. His style is good and his reading voice is excellent (I of course do not read, but listen :) due to my busy schedule, (this review is of the audio book that Tolle reads). Of course most of the concepts of the Power of Now have been described in meditation studies and my favorite author/teacher is Osho who described the power of now as the true existence is a (|) line while illusion or maya is a horizontal line (-----) representing the linear nature of time, which is not real and to be avoided. Anyway, I recommend highly the audio book to the stressed out commuters who worry about their job.
Andras Nagy
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2: The Essence of This Book?
This is one of the most profound well-written books I've ever read. However, I'm having difficulty writing a review without feeling I am doing the author and you an injustice. It's a little like trying to summarize a beautiful poem.
Perhaps the best way I can convey the essence of this work is by sharing some of the many interesting points Eckhart Tolle makes in "The Power of Now."
Early on he states that you are not your thoughts. It is not so much that you use your mind wrongly...you usually don't use it at all. It uses you. He insists that the single most vital step on your journey toward enlightenment is to learn to dis-identify from your mind.
Tolle explains that you are not the possessing entity - the thinker. Knowing this enables you to observe the entity. The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of intelligence becomes activated. That's when you are in touch with the real you.
He urges you to start listening to the voice in your head as often as you can. That is what he means by "watching the thinker."
He says the mind itself is not dysfunctional. It is a wonderful tool. Dysfunction sets in when you seek yourself in it and mistake it for who you are.
Now we get to "The Now." ... He points out that the present moment is all you ever have. There never is a time when your life is not "this moment." So the only place where true change can occur and where the past can be dissolved is the Now. Furthermore, it is impossible to have a problem when your attention is fully in the Now.
Tolle goes on to offer compelling, valuable insights on worry, happiness, forgiveness, and the importance of conscious breathing.
The profundity and value of this book will probably make you want to reread it often to fully absorb, appreciate, and use the amazing power of Now.
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3: Unmasking your systems of belief through presence in the now
On my spiritual quest I have read a good number of books, my favourites where especially the Seth books by Jane Roberts. But obviously I "needed" Eckhart Tolle's "Power of Now" to truly understand: We are all "bags of beliefs", and our ego directs our consciousness according to those beliefs. The ego and its beliefs are supposed to be a "tool" working for our advantage, but when we identify fully with what we believe in, our consciousness can get clouded almost entirely, especially through destructive beliefs (Tolle uses the word "pain-body"). We start to function like an airplane run by an autopilot that is programmed by our beliefs. The best way out of our beliefs is INTENSE PRESENCE IN THE NOW, as described in this book. Whenever I stay focused and try to look at my world open-mindedly, I feel a presence in myself that is ME unclouded by beliefs. To feel one's own center or Being is such a boost of positive energy, and it is this state that is described as "enlightenment". In truth there is nothing special about it, since we are born in this Being-ness. Whoever lost track of this powerful feeling of her- or himself need only look at children or remember days of her own childhood, when she (or he) was totally herself and blissfully engrossed in her own Being. Animals (unbothered by human influence) live in this state all of the time, as can be easily observed. This state is not passive, not at all, it is the center, the core from which all action is triggered. If we want our thoughts and actions to be positive we need to act with an unclouded consciousness. The "trick" is the following: Whenever you feel hurt, for instance, just allow this feeling to swell in you, give yourself to it, let it live ... and then try to sense your Being "apart" our "outside" of those feelings -- You (apart from you) can act like a "watcher" of this emotional event. This "watcher" is Yourself unaffected by your current feelings (and its underlying beliefs; -- since all feelings follow your beliefs, and not the other way around). Through focusing on Yourself and hence allowing your feelings to pass by like clouds on a vast sky you can transform your beliefs (and their attached feelings) with the realization that in the Here and Now there need not be any fear because Yourself is unaffected by whatever your worry. As for me, it takes constant "training" to stay focused, my "autopilot" is still very strong, but I manage to slip into states of intense clarity and even bliss several times a day. Since I am an ordinary human being, this is possible for everyone. Who would not want to live in clarity, serenity and inner peace? I recommend this book to EVERYONE!
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4: Best Book I have ever Read
For Me, this is the best book I have ever read.
I am not proposing ET to be the new Messiah, a genius of original thought, or the creator of a new religion. The PoN is a pragmatic rehash of Buddha principals which I find very secular and pragmatic. Like many, I have toyed with, bought books, etc Buddha principles and meditation etc. After going through several of the bestselling books it just did not stick to my wall, so to speak. This is where ET shines. This is a very well written, easy to read pragmatic book, which I highly recommend to all, particularly the modern American Yuppie or other that feels harried by our fast paced lives, chauffeuring the kids from one event to the other, that you never seemed to have when you were young, the BMW payments, a boss who should be in The Far Side and / or Dilbert and the rest of the modern pressures. Buy it NOW; you won't be able to put it down, although you are supposed to chronically to contemplate the principles.
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5: Important read
This book offers refreshing insight into the benefits of practicing mindfulness. Tolle focuses on the concept, the practical application, and the benefits without the usual religious hang-ups. This book is an important read for all who seek peace of mind in this life.
Buy it - Read it - Pass it on to a friend
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