Power Of Now A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment

There is a great yearning among aspirants today to learn to live more fully in the present. THE POWER OF NOW - a beautifully expressed, succinct spiritual volume - addresses this theme with a depth and originality of thought that cannot fail to touch the soul of the serious seeker.

He ( Eckhart Tolle) is uniquely qualified to guide us on this inner sojourn to discover Being for, unlike most , his knowledge is not gleaned from books and exemplars but from the crucible of first-hand, inner experience. Other sources are drawn upon, such as the sayings of Jesus, Buddha, Zen Buddhism, and The Course of Miracles, but they are used to enhance the light of his own knowing. And the style of language, without being simplistic, is both warm and remarkably free from complex terms, making it readily appealing to aspirants of varying backgrounds and spiritual persuasions. The overall effect is one of a quiet compassion and wisdom which homes in on the very soul of the reader.

We are reminded that "Enlightenment" is not only "the end of suffering " (as Buddha once said), but also the end of slavery to continuous thinking. Contrary to what most believe in the Western world, the mind is not the epitome of existence: it is only a stage in the evolutionary process, only "a small aspect of consciousness," for Cosmos goes beyond thought and does not need thought - as we experience it - to exist. Thus, it is the author's conviction that freeing oneself from the ever-demanding lesser mind is an essential step for experiencing enlightenment and our true Being.

An especially helpful section for these troubled times is the chapter on Enlightened Relationships. The author presents the extraordinary opinion that all relationships are "deeply flawed and ultimately dysfunctional" unless based on "spiritual practice" and on the understanding that wholeness, and the end to duality, which most of are seeking unconsciously, cannot be found outside ourselves.
There is much, much more to this remarkable book than has been indicated here. However, in conclusion, let us express profound gratitude to Eckhart Tolle for presenting in a most empathetic and insightful manner, a theme that is absolutely indispensable to the spiritual quest.

The book promises much in the beginning but disappoints, annoyingly so at the end. For people well versed in Indian tradition of philosophy and thought there is nothing new in this agonising read.

The Indian system of philosophy believes in introspection of the most vile kinds. It exhorts us to believe that by destroying 'thoughts' or 'thinking' we can achieve a transcedental state in which it is possible to pick up reverberations of the cosmos or the superior being.

The weave of this book reeks of the same tendency.

What every gullible student of spirituality should realise is that, our thoughts make our world and they are a necessary consequence to sensing from our sense organs. There is no truth beyond the truth sensed or inferred using our sense organs and our brains.

Do not waste your time on this book.... unless you want to become an ascetic or a lunatic