Power of Now 2009 Wall Calendar by Eckhart Tolle Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Power of Now 2009 Wall Calendar
Book Review: The journey since buying the book in 2001
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book in 2001. I am still 'not fully there yet' but doing very nicely. So nicely that I am fully content with my present progress. For me Eckhart is walking the path of living in the present. He knows when to engage the thinking process and when to slip back in to full stillness. This is very achievable. There is a price though. You have to practice. How often? Well one can't very well be fully present if you show no determination to stay present. It's not some switch. It's very hard-earned. The question you have to ask is how badly do I want it? If you truely believe in your gut this is the only way to live your life then you'll put in the effort. Even if you slip into a dream for 6 weeks, you'll come back and try again. It's every minute. You slip away in a dream, you realise this you come back. How do you stay present? Always return to your centre. Your Hara. Dan Tien. A Universal living force of energy near your navel. Begin by relaxing the tummy muscles. Relax the lower back, relax the shoulders. Try counting your breaths. I find a count of 4 works well to start with.
Also read up about Zen. Get the right books though. Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is a classic. A read that's very clear. His follow on is just as good "Not always so". Zazen is not meditation it's stillness and observing what is with non-judgement.
Eventually you'll break through. You'll get glimmers of that total stillness while being present and observing. That's all you need. Once tasted you know what to look out for.
Zen is also really good at everyday life. Bringing in that awareness into everything. We do lots of really simple things automatically. One can then just sit back, prepare a relaxed centre and try stay with the task. Washing dishes is a good one. Taking one's time. Relaxed without a sense to jump onto the next thing and get the job done. You can just stand and just observe yourself do the dishes. Feel the relaxation.
The other big thing I like in Zen is to not seek out the extra-ordinary like extra powers of second sight, or the great moment where everything makes sense. There is really no sense of searching, more a doing or a non-doing.
Practicing complete stillness has to be done daily. If you don't even practice 10 minutes then you'll struggle to break through. Complete seated stillness and focus is the only way you'll develop enough power to breakthrough into your everyday life. It builds your reserves. It reduces over-active thinking.
By focusing beyond thinking we can then tap into who we really are. Insights come to us. Or rather we can finally hear the inner voice of guidance because our ego's take on life is not shouting in our brains.
This book is a great way to develop a sense of what this living in the present is about and how it can transform you. However, one book cannot give you all the answers. You'll need to keep researching the subject. There is no such thing as over-saturation. Zen Monks live in temples working day and night on being in the present. Whether in meditation, Zazen, doing the required daily living tasks, koans, it's all the time. Some stay well over 10 years or more. So if these monks are still 'not quite there' yet, you realise you just have to put in the time.
For me now my whole life is centred around being present. Whenever, I stray from this, (often unconsciously) I stop enjoying life as much and the stress creeps back in.
Just a last note about the Zen Monks. They will be the first to tell you that your life is perfect exactly as it is. You can practice right after reading this sentence and begin from there. Everything in your life is a perfect training tool.
Book Review: Filled with wisdom
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Power of Now" is a book that reminds you of what you already know. The message is simple and one we have heard before: We can only live in the NOW - the present moment. The past is gone and the future emerges out of the present and if we are not living in the present then we are ineffective in our spiritual practice. At times I found the book was repetitive, then again I have read many spiritual books. So I have familiarity with this topic.
I throughly recommend "The Power of Now" along with Tolle's "A New Earth" and "Nexus" by Morrison & Singh.
Book Review: If you only read one book, make it this one
Summary: 5 Stars
The whole point of this book is to set you free. There is only one way to do that: stop searching and start being. Most of us are conciously or unconciously seeking happiness, a point in the future when evrything will be right. But as Tolle points out, "you can never reach that point because you are at that point now."
Once you fully realise what he is saying, your entire perception of reality is altered. You're free of fear and pain. You don't have to worry about your mistakes, you don't protect a mind-made image you have of yourself, you don't delay your happiness untill some point in the future that will never arrive, you don't fear what you cannot control. Once you've read this, it's easy to start analysing your behaviour - but then you've missed the point, which is to give up the relationship with yourself and start being yourself. Read this, stop waiting, and start living.
Book Review: Fantastic! One of the best books I have ever read!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have spent years reading countless spiritual and new age texts, most of which do not work one bit. Thankfully, this book stands out from the crowd as being both inspiring to read and can have profound effects on your life.
The author's overview of the ego was enlightening and his advice on letting go and living in the moment is both refreshing and effective. I found immediately after reading this book that I started to look at the world very differently and felt more inner peace. After a while, the ego creeps back and unless you practice the advice of the book regularly then the effects can be temporary, but I found reading some the chapters again helped to get back into that other state of being.
So, I would recommend this book to anybody interested in living a more spiritual and peaceful lifestyle.
Book Review: Universal & Timeless Truth
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Power of Now" captures the essence of spiritual life with a clear understanding. Tolle himself went through a period of extreme despair and from those depths he experienced a peak moment of realization around his 30th birthday. His ideas are universal and capture essential teachings and ideas found in Buddhism, Christianity, meditation and many other traditions and approaches. The universal nature of the book really appealed to me, since I am eclectic in my approach and like an author who has a global outlook.
The basic teaching presented by Tolle is that we can overcome personal pain by living fully in the present moment - in the NOW. By doing so, we can access our true self ever present behind our ego-influenced mental thoughts.
"The Power of Now" is one of those books that uses words to go beyond words to the experience of enlightenment and Tolle succeeds in this endeavour. The book has become a word-of-mouth bestseller and I recommend it along with another word-of-mouth bestseller called "Nexus: A Neo Novel" by two new Canadian authors, Deborah Morrison & Arvind Singh.