This month we read (and loved!) The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle… by Senior Editor, Rachel Kempton
Do you ever feel like you’re on a hamster wheel running at top speed but not getting anywhere? The last few months have felt a bit like that for me: the constant to-ing and fro-ing between work, family and friends; a diary packed with social commitments and obligations; and a never-ending to-do list — not to mention the incessant pings from my phone — have left me longing for some time out.
A couple of days away, and an eye-opening book later, I’d discovered where I’ve been going wrong. Not only have I been physically busy, my mind has been in overdrive too — constantly racing from one thought to the next instead of being more present.
Eckhart Tolle’s book, The Power of Now, was a timely reminder that the key to experiencing more joy in life lies simply in the here and the now. The insights I’ve gleaned from this book have been swirling about in my consciousness for the last couple of weeks. It has completely changed the way I think, act and feel.
Here are my top three takeaways:
The basic principle of the book is that we don’t exist outside the Now and [Tweet “living in the now is the truest path to happiness and enlightenment.”]
At first I found this concept quite tricky to grasp as I’ve always thought of life as a line that takes us from birth to death with the present moment being a single point which moves slowly forward along it. The Power of Now shares the idea that there is no line and no defining past and future points. That the present is all we have. And that the past (which gives us identity) and future (which holds the promise of fulfilment in any form) are mere illusions which we create by imagining them in the present.
And it makes complete sense. Constantly looking ahead to the next big thing — whether it’s an event, a goal, or a dreams of a better future — and trying to control other people, situations and outcomes in the process is both stressful and draining. On the other hand when you can consciously offer no resistance to what is and allow the present moment to be just as it is, good or bad, you feel immense calm and inner peace.
2. I am not my mind
Now I try and see my mind as independent. Yes I see the thoughts racing around in there but the difference is that I know I don’t need to engage with them or react to them. Instead I do my best to stand aside, watch, and laugh at how ridiculous they are! Just knowing that they don’t define who I am or how I live my life feels incredibly liberating.
3. Problems don’t exist
Tolle explains our ‘life situation’ is not our ‘life’. Our ‘life situation’ is stuff we need to resolve, chores to attend to and relationships that need attention. But when we’ve taken care of that, we can come back to our ‘life’, our essence, our true nature and leave behind the deadening nature of ‘time created problems’ which are just a manifestation of an over busy mind.
The fact is that as long as we define ourselves in terms of our pains and problems we will never be free from them. Now I’m taking the view that unless I’m being chased by a bear, or I find myself in another potentially life-threatening situation, I actually don’t have any problems so I may as well stop worrying.
The Power of Now has helped to free me from the mind-numbing thoughts that have make me feel confused, stressed and exhausted. Yes, it takes a great deal of effort to be more consciously aware in every part of your life but the trade-off for feeling lighter and brighter is totally worth it.
Check out this animation by The Journey which explains more about all this…
About the author and the book
Eckhart Tolle wrote The Power of Now following a cataclysmic spiritual experience that he claims erased his former identity when he was 29. One evening, he was a near-suicidal graduate student, living in a Belsize Park bedsit; by the following morning, he’d been flooded with a sense of “uninterrupted deep peace and bliss” that has never left him since. That morning, he writes, “I walked around the city in utter amazement at the miracle of life on earth, as if I had just been born.”
Following his epiphany, Tolle has become one of the most successful spiritual author of the modern age, and Oprah Winfrey, whose championing of his books included a 10-week online seminar series watched by 11 million people, has ensured their long-term tenure on bestseller lists on both sides of the Atlantic.
You can order The Power Of Now via Amazon.uk and Amazon.com.
