Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Power of Now
Book Review: Seriously Misleading.
Summary: 1 Stars
I have to say that I have only read the reviews and believe that no man or woman has it in them to change a person. Spirituality cannot save you, you cannot save you no man or woman can and Religion can't either. It is only Jesus that can do this. God did not create the religions of the world; man did, and he did this to satisfy his conscience! You can learn as much as you can but it all means nothing without the truth. I reccomend the Bible if you are searching for inner peace. You can't beat the bare faced truth, and your conscience was created by God so do yourself a favour and allow God to speak into it and not mere mortal gurus!Book Review: Enlightenment or money spin?
Summary: 4 Stars
I am, by Tolle's definition, one of the multitude of the unconscious and perhaps, as he says, I am not yet ready for a change. I was captivated for the first 60+ pages, and then began to wonder if the word processor had been set up to randomly select the same sentences in slightly different order to answer the next 130 pages of questions. His concepts are compelling and probably fundamentally correct. However, I suspect that any book on Buddhism says more or less the same things. Tolle's dilemma in that he is using a medium which is a direct construct of the 'mind-body' to deliver what he believes is a higher evolutionary message of pure consciousness. His references/experiences appear to be extremely limited and from a fairly narrow stetch of cultures/religions. I started to doubt his 'worldliness' and he lost me a few times in delving into unsubstantiated arguments that I think he just doesn't have the background and research to back up. Nevertheless, if you ignore the silly bits and listen to the underlying concepts I think it makes a good read. At very least, I'm spurred on to look for something slightly more substantial. This isn't a how to guide, but a book of questions that makes you ponder another way of being. Unfortunately, as one who is still controlled by her egocentric thinking mind, I just can't help but wonder where the royalties are heading and that a pamphlet might not have been all it needed.Book Review: A miraculous gift to humanity
Summary: 5 Stars
Would you like to live a life free of fear and anger, a life filled with deep peace and joy? Then follow the simple instructions in this wonderful book. Through a series of questions and answers mystic Eckhart Tolles shows how by living fully in the present moment we can learn to control the restless mind (the ego) and access our true nature, a nature of divine peace and joy. Though we will still be aware of the ups and downs of everyday life, they will merely be ripples on the surface of the bottomless ocean of peace in which we dwell.I have read countless books on the subject of spirituality, over the last 20 years, and I now see that they have all been directing me to this one book . The Power of Now is divinely inspired, its prose is beautiful in its simplicity and so powerful that not only do I gain a sense of peace whenever i read it, but also by simply holding it in my hand.
At first glance it may appear to be just a book, but it is much much more. It is in fact the key to what we have all be searching for since birth, that something which we have failed to find through drink or drugs or wealth. It is the key to peace of mind, to joy.
Book Review: Great content - shame about the voice
Summary: 2 Stars
Found the authors voice very hard to listen to. He should have got someone else to do the tape. I couldn't listen to them as his voice was very monotonous and depressing.Book Review: The Power Of Now
Summary: 4 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book - at least the first 50 pages, as it does get a little repetitious. Whilst it is a book of wisdom I must voice some suspicions. Tolle's 'teaching' is not just similar to Barry Long's but very often the phrases are identical. I ask myself why Tolle claimed to need to define the word 'ego' when he uses it in a commonly understood way? It was almost as though he was distinguishing he use of ego from Long's which is that the ego is necessary for survival rather than part of a fabricated self that needs to be dissolved. Tolle leads us to believe he is coming from his own experience - something Long also insisted upon. So sincerity is a concern. Speaking as a meditator myself (on and off for some 30 years) intellectual clarity is a measure of the stillness of the mind and yet at times I wasn't altogether convinced of Tolle's message or even clear as to what it was. Why try to coin the word 'presence' when 'stillness' and 'awareness' need no introduction? It is almost as though Tolle wants to develop a teaching and an identity with it. Comments like, 'The pain body consists of trapped life-energy that has split off from your total energy body field and has temporarily become autonomous through the unnatural process of mind identification.' (p32) seem somehow affected. I wasn't convinced when he wrote, 'A strong unconscious emotional pattern may even manifest as an external event that appears to happen just for you' (p21) and 'Human beings have been in the grip of pain for eons, ever since they fell from grace....' (p25) How does he know it's eons? In fact, what tells him we were ever in grace in the first place?
Nevertheless, I would heartily recommend this book, especially to a beginner. Apart from the whiff of platitude, it is largely written from experience but not from a Tathagata well gone - not yet anyway.