Acclaim for THE POWER OF NOW

 

Acclaim for

THE POWER OF NOW

“I heartily recommend this profoundly inspiring book to all seekers

today.”

— Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within

“This seems to be the ‘right book’ for many people at this point in

time. The writing is clear as a bell; the words ring true. Truly an

exceptional book that promises to make a real difference in people’s

lives.”

— Tom Oakley, Banyen Books, Vancouver, British Columbia

“The Power of Now was introduced to me by a customer. I read only

one page and agreed that it rang true. It is a jewel of clarity and

insight. The book has become a word-of-mouth bestseller here at East

West.”

— Norman Snitkin, comanager, East West Bookshop, Seattle

“Tolle has succeeded on two fronts: synthesizing the teachings of

masters such as Jesus and the Buddha into an easily accessible guide

to achieving spiritual consciousness and making a strong case that the

inability of humans to free themselves from dominance by the mind

and live in the present is the root cause for misery in the world. . . .

He makes enlightenment seem attainable and necessary for both

individual peace and the health of the planet.”

— ForeWord magazine

“I have no hesitation in recommending Eckhart Tolle’s wonderful

book. Everyone I know who has picked up a copy has ended up taking

it home. The Power of Now sells on its own merit and by word of

mouth.”

— Stephen Gawtry, Manager, Watkins Books Ltd., London

“Fresh, revealing, current, new inspiration. Out of the many spiritual

books that cross my desk this one stands out from the flock. . . . If you

are considering getting back in touch with your soul, this book is a

great companion.”

—Common Ground, Vancouver, British Columbia

“With intense and compelling clarity, Tolle’s guidance holds the

promise of leading us to our own best and highest place within, to

resonate with and reflect the energy of true transformation.”

— Spirit of Change magazine

“With Eckhart Tolle’s growing presence on bestseller shelves usually

reserved for much lighter-weight fare, it will be interesting to see

what time has in store for this unusual modern mystic.”

— What Is Enlightenment? magazine

“. . . a guide to spiritual awakening from a man who is emerging as

one of this generation’s clearest, most inspiring teachers on the

subject.”

— Transitions Bookplace, Chicago

“The most important book in a spiritual life written in the last

decade.”

— Thunderbird Bookshop, Carmel, California

THE POWER OF

NOW

 

THE POWER OF

NOW

A GUIDE TO SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT

  NAMASTE PUBLISHING and

Author’s Preface to the Paperback Edition

Introduction

The Origin of This Book

The Truth That Is Within You

CHAPTER ONE: You Are Not Your Mind

The Greatest Obstacle to Enlightenment

Freeing Yourself from Your Mind

Enlightenment: Rising above Thought

Emotion: The Body’s Reaction to Your Mind

CHAPTER TWO: Consciousness: The Way Out of Pain

Create No More Pain in the Present

Past Pain: Dissolving the Pain-Body

Ego Identification with the Pain-Body

The Origin of Fear

The Ego’s Search for Wholeness

CHAPTER THREE: Moving Deeply into the Now

End the Delusion of Time Nothing Exists Outside the Now The Key to the Spiritual Dimension

CHAPTER FOUR: Mind Strategies for Avoiding the Now

Loss of Now: The Core Delusion

Ordinary Unconsciousness and Deep Unconsciousness

What Are They Seeking?

Dissolving Ordinary Unconsciousness

Freedom from Unhappiness

Wherever You Are, Be There Totally

The Inner Purpose of Your Life’s Journey

The Past Cannot Survive in Your Presence

CHAPTER FIVE: The State of Presence

It’s Not What You Think It Is

The Esoteric Meaning of “Waiting”

Beauty Arises in the Stillness of Your Presence

Realizing Pure Consciousness

Christ: The Reality of Your Divine Presence

CHAPTER SIX: The Inner Body

Look beyond the Words Finding Your Invisible and Indestructible Reality Connecting with the Inner Body

CHAPTER SEVEN: Portals into the Unmanifested

Going Deeply into the Body

The Source of Chi

Dreamless Sleep

Other Portals

Silence

Space

The True Nature of Space and Time

Conscious Death

CHAPTER EIGHT: Enlightened Relationships

Enter the Now from Wherever You Are

Love/Hate Relationships

Addiction and the Search for Wholeness

From Addictive to Enlightened Relationships

Relationships as Spiritual Practice

Why Women Are Closer to Enlightenment

Dissolving the Collective Female Pain-Body

Give Up the Relationship with Yourself

CHAPTER NINE: Beyond Happiness and Unhappiness There Is

Peace

The Higher Good beyond Good and Bad

The End of Your Life Drama

Impermanence and the Cycles of Life

Using and Relinquishing Negativity

The Nature of Compassion

Toward a Different Order of Reality

CHAPTER TEN: The Meaning of Surrender

Acceptance of the Now

From Mind Energy to Spiritual Energy

Surrender in Personal Relationships

Transforming Illness into Enlightenment

When Disaster Strikes

Transforming Suffering into Peace

The Way of the Cross

The Power to Choose

Notes

Acknowledgments

About the Author

THE PAPERBACK EDITION   Six years after it was first published, The Power of Now continues to

THE ORIGIN OF THIS BOOK

I have little use for the past and rarely think about it; however, I would briefly like to tell you how I came to be a spiritual teacher and how this book came into existence.

THE TRUTH THAT IS WITHIN YOU

This book represents the essence of my work, as far as it can be conveyed in words, with individuals and small groups of spiritual seekers during the past ten years, in Europe and in North America. In

THE GREATEST OBSTACLE TO ENLIGHTENMENT

Enlightenment — what is that? A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by. “Spare some change?” mumbled the

FREEING YOURSELF FROM YOUR MIND

What exactly do you mean by “watching the thinker”? When someone goes to the doctor and says, “I hear a voice in my head,” he or she will most likely be sent to a psychiatrist. The fact is

ENLIGHTENMENT: RISING ABOVE THOUGHT

Isn’t thinking essential in order to survive in this world? Your mind is an instrument, a tool. It is there to be used for a specific task, and when the task is completed, you lay it down. As it is, I

EMOTION: THE BODY’S REACTION TO YOUR MIND

What about emotions? I get caught up in my emotions more than I do in my mind. Mind, in the way I use the word, is not just thought. It includes your

CREATE NO MORE PAIN IN THE PRESENT

Nobody’s life is entirely free of pain and sorrow. Isn’t it a question of learning to live with them rather than trying to avoid them? The greater part of human pain is unnecessary. It is self-created as

PAST PAIN: DISSOLVING THE PAIN-BODY

As long as you are unable to access the power of the Now, every emotional pain that you experience leaves behind a residue of pain that lives on in you. It merges with the pain from the past, which was

EGO IDENTIFICATION WITH THE PAIN-BODY

The process that I have just described is profoundly powerful yet simple. It could be taught to a child, and hopefully one day it will be one of the first things children learn in school. Once you have

THE ORIGIN OF FEAR

You mentioned fear as being part of our basic underlying emotional pain. How does fear arise, and why is there so much of it in people’s lives? And isn’t a certain amount of fear just healthy self-protection? If

THE EGO’S SEARCH FOR WHOLENESS

Another aspect of the emotional pain that is an intrinsic part of the egoic mind is a deep-seated sense of lack or incompleteness, of not being whole. In some people, this is conscious, in others unconscious.

DON’T SEEK YOUR SELF IN THE MIND

I feel that there is still a great deal I need to learn about the workings of my mind before I can get anywhere near full consciousness or spiritual enlightenment.

END THE DELUSION OF TIME

It seems almost impossible to disidentify from the mind. We are all immersed in it. How do you teach a fish to fly? Here is the key: End the delusion of time. Time and mind are

NOTHING EXISTS OUTSIDE THE NOW

Aren’t past and future just as real, sometimes even more real, than the present? After all, the past determines who we are, as well as how we perceive and behave in the present. And our future goals

THE KEY TO THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION

In life-threatening emergency situations, the shift in consciousness from time to presence sometimes happens naturally. The personality that has a past and a future momentarily recedes and is replaced by

ACCESSING THE POWER OF THE NOW

A moment ago, when you talked about the eternal present and the unreality of past and future, I found myself looking at that tree outside the window. I had looked at it a few times before, but this

LETTING GO OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME

Learn to use time in the practical aspects of your life — we may call this “clock time” — but immediately return to present-moment awareness when those practical matters have been dealt with. In this

THE INSANITY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME

You will not have any doubt that psychological time is a mental disease if you look at its collective manifestations. They occur, for example, in the form of ideologies such as communism, national

NEGATIVITY AND SUFFERING HAVE THEIR ROOTS IN TIME

But the belief that the future will be better than the present is not always an illusion. The present can be dreadful, and things can get better in the future, and often they do.

FINDING THE LIFE UNDERNEATH YOUR LIFE SITUATION

I don’t see how I can be free now. As it happens, I am extremely unhappy with my life at the moment. This is a fact, and I would be deluding myself if I tried to convince myself that all is well when it

ALL PROBLEMS ARE ILLUSIONS OF THE MIND

It feels as if a heavy burden has been lifted. A sense of lightness. I feel clear. . . but my problems are still there waiting for me, aren’t they? They haven’t been solved. Am I not just temporarily evading

A QUANTUM LEAP IN THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS

I have had glimpses of this state of freedom from mind and time that you describe, but past and future are so overwhelmingly strong that I cannot keep them out for long.

THE JOY OF BEING

To alert you that you have allowed yourself to be taken over by psychological time, you can use a simple criterion. Ask yourself: Is there joy, ease, and lightness in what I am doing? If there isn’t, then

LOSS OF NOW: THE CORE DELUSION

Even if I completely accept that ultimately time is an illusion, what difference is that going to make in my life? I still have to live in a world that is completely dominated by time.

ORDINARY UNCONSCIOUSNESS

AND DEEP UNCONSCIOUSNESS

What do you mean by different levels of unconsciousness? As you probably know, in sleep you constantly move between the phases of dreamless sleep and the dream state. Similarly, in

WHAT ARE THEY SEEKING?

Carl Jung tells in one of his books of a conversation he had with a Native American chief who pointed out to him that in his perception most white people have tense faces, staring eyes, and a cruel

DISSOLVING ORDINARY UNCONSCIOUSNESS

So how can we be free of this affliction? Make it conscious. Observe the many ways in which unease, discontent, and tension arise within you through unnecessary

FREEDOM FROM UNHAPPINESS

Do you resent doing what you are doing? It may be your job, or you may have agreed to do something and are doing it, but part of you resents and resists it. Are you carrying unspoken resentment toward a

WHEREVER YOU ARE, BE THERE TOTALLY

Can you give some more examples of ordinary unconsciousness? See if you can catch yourself complaining, in either speech or thought, about a situation you find yourself in, what other people do or say,

THE INNER PURPOSE OF YOUR LIFE’S JOURNEY

I can see the truth of what you are saying, but I still think that we must have purpose on our life’s journey; otherwise we just drift, and

THE PAST CANNOT SURVIVE IN YOUR PRESENCE

You mentioned that thinking or talking about the past unnecessarily is one of the ways in which we avoid the present. But apart from the past that we remember and perhaps identify with, isn’t there another

IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS

You keep talking about the state of presence as the key. I think I understand it intellectually, but I don’t know if I have ever truly experienced it. I wonder — is it what I think it is, or is it something

BEAUTY ARISES IN THE STILLNESS OF YOUR PRESENCE

What you have just described is something that I occasionally experience for brief moments when I am alone and surrounded by nature.

REALIZING PURE CONSCIOUSNESS

Is presence the same as Being? When you become conscious of Being, what is really happening is that Being becomes conscious of itself. When Being becomes conscious of

CHRIST: THE REALITY OF YOUR DIVINE PRESENCE

Don’t get attached to any one word. You can substitute “Christ” for presence, if that is more meaningful to you. Christ is your God- essence or the Self, as it is sometimes called in the East. The only

BEING IS YOUR DEEPEST SELF

You spoke earlier about the importance of having deep roots within or inhabiting the body. Can you explain what you meant by that? The body can become a point of access into the realm of Being. Let’s

LOOK BEYOND THE WORDS

I don’t like the word sin. It implies that I am being judged and found guilty. I can understand that. Over the centuries, many erroneous views and

FINDING YOUR INVISIBLE AND INDESTRUCTIBLE REALITY

You said that identification with our physical form is part of the illusion, so how can the body, the physical form, bring you to a realization of Being?

CONNECTING WITH THE INNER BODY

Please try it now. You may find it helpful to close your eyes for this practice. Later on, when “being in the body” has become natural and easy, this will no longer be necessary. Direct your attention into the

TRANSFORMATION THROUGH THE BODY

Why have most religions condemned or denied the body? It seems that spiritual seekers have always regarded the body as a hindrance or even as sinful.

SERMON ON THE BODY

What you perceive as a dense physical structure called the body, which is subject to disease, old age, and death, is not ultimately real — is not you. It is a misperception of your essential reality that is

HAVE DEEP ROOTS WITHIN

The key is to be in a state of permanent connectedness with your inner body — to feel it at all times. This will rapidly deepen and transform your life. The more consciousness you direct into the inner

BEFORE YOU ENTER THE BODY, FORGIVE

I felt very uncomfortable when I tried to put my attention on the inner body. There was a feeling of agitation and some nausea. So I haven’t been able to experience what you are talking about.

YOUR LINK WITH THE UNMANIFESTED

What is the relationship between presence and the inner body? Presence is pure consciousness — consciousness that has been reclaimed from the mind, from the world of form. The inner body is

SLOWING DOWN THE AGING PROCESS

In the meantime, awareness of the inner body has other benefits in the physical realm. One of them is a significant slowing down of the aging of the physical body.

STRENGTHENING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

Another benefit of this practice in the physical realm is a great strengthening of the immune system, which occurs when you inhabit the body. The more consciousness you bring into the body, the

LET THE BREATH TAKE YOU INTO THE BODY

At times, when my mind has been very active, it has acquired such momentum that I find it impossible to take my attention away from it and feel the inner body. This happens particularly when I get into a

CREATIVE USE OF MIND

If you need to use your mind for a specific purpose, use it in conjunction with your inner body. Only if you are able to be conscious without thought can you use your mind creatively, and the easiest

THE ART OF LISTENING

When listening to another person, don’t just listen with your mind, listen with your whole body. Feel the energy field of your inner body as you listen. That takes attention away from thinking and creates a

GOING DEEPLY INTO THE BODY

I can feel the energy inside my body, especially in my arms and legs, but I don’t seem to be able to go more deeply, as you suggested earlier.

THE SOURCE OF CHI

Is the Unmanifested what in the East is called chi, a kind of universal life energy? No, it isn’t. The Unmanifested is the source of chi. Chi is the inner

DREAMLESS SLEEP

You take a journey into the Unmanifested every night when you enter the phase of deep dreamless sleep. You merge with the Source. You draw from it the vital energy that sustains you for a while when you

OTHER PORTALS

The Now can be seen as the main portal. It is an essential aspect of every other portal, including the inner body. You cannot be in your body without being intensely present in the Now.

SILENCE

Are there any other portals apart from those you just mentioned? Yes, there are. The Unmanifested is not separate from the manifested. It pervades this world, but it is so well disguised that

SPACE

 

Just as no sound can exist without silence, nothing can exist without

no-thing, without the empty space that enables it to be. Every

physical object or body has come out of nothing, is surrounded by

nothing, and will eventually return to nothing. Not only that, but even

inside every physical body there is far more “nothing” than

“something.” Physicists tell us that the solidity of matter is an illusion.

Even seemingly solid matter, including your physical body, is nearly

100 percent empty space — so vast are the distances between the

atoms compared to their size. What is more, even inside every atom

there is mostly empty space. What is left is more like a vibrational

frequency than particles of solid matter, more like a musical note.

Buddhists have known that for over 2,500 years. “Form is emptiness,

emptiness is form,” states the Heart Sutra, one of the best known

ancient Buddhist texts. The essence of all things is emptiness.

The Unmanifested is not only present in this world as silence; it also

pervades the entire physical universe as space — from within and

without. This is just as easy to miss as silence. Everybody pays

attention to the things in space, but who pays attention to space

itself?

You seem to be implying that “emptiness” or “nothing” is not just

nothing, that there is some mysterious quality to it. What is this

nothing?

You cannot ask such a question. Your mind is trying to make nothing

into something. The moment you make it into something, you have

missed it. Nothing — space — is the appearance of the Unmanifested

as an externalized phenomenon in a sense-perceived world. That’s

about as much as one can say about it, and even that is a kind of

paradox. It cannot become an object of knowledge. You can’t do a

Ph.D. on “nothing.” When scientists study space, they usually make it

into something and thereby miss its essence entirely. Not surprisingly,

the latest theory is that space isn’t empty at all, that it is filled with

some substance. Once you have a theory, it’s not too hard to find

evidence to substantiate it, at least until some other theory comes

along.

“Nothing” can only become a portal into the Unmanifested for you if

you don’t try to grasp or understand it.

Isn’t that what we are doing here?

Not at all. I am giving you pointers to show you how you can bring the

dimension of the Unmanifested into your life. We are not trying to

understand it. There is nothing to understand.

Space has no “existence.” “To exist” literally means “to stand out.”

You cannot understand space because it doesn’t stand out. Although

in itself it has no existence, it enables everything else to exist. Silence

has no existence either, nor does the Un-manifested.

So what happens if you withdraw attention from the objects in space

and become aware of space itself? What is the essence of this room?

The furniture, pictures, and so on are in the room, but they are not

the room. The floor, walls, and ceiling define the boundary of the

room, but they are not the room either. So what is the essence of the

room? Space, of course, empty space. There would be no “room”

without it. Since space is “nothing,” we can say that what is not there

is more important than what is there. So become aware of the space

that is all around you. Don’t think about it. Feel it, as it were. Pay

attention to “nothing.”

As you do that, a shift in consciousness takes place inside you. Here is

why. The inner equivalent to objects in space such as furniture, walls,

and so on are your mind objects: thoughts, emotions, and the objects

of the senses. And the inner equivalent of space is the consciousness

that enables your mind objects to be, just as space allows all things to

be. So if you withdraw attention from things — objects in space — you

automatically withdraw attention from your mind objects as well. In

other words: You cannot think and be aware of space — or of silence,

for that matter. By becoming aware of the empty space around you,

you simultaneously become aware of the space of no-mind, of pure

consciousness: the Unmanifested. This is how the contemplation of

space can become a portal for you.

Space and silence are two aspects of the same thing, the same no-

thing. They are an externalization of inner space and inner silence,

which is stillness: the infinitely creative womb of all existence. Most

humans are completely unconscious of this dimension. There is no

inner space, no stillness. They are out of balance. In other words,

they know the world, or think they do, but they don’t know God. They

identify exclusively with their own physical and psychological form,

unconscious of essence. And because every form is highly unstable,

they live in fear. This fear causes a deep misperception of themselves

and of other humans, a distortion in their vision of the world.

If some cosmic convulsion brought about the end of our world, the

Unmanifested would remain totally unaffected by this. A Course in

Miracles expresses this truth poignantly: “Nothing real can be

threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.”

If you remain in conscious connection with the Unmanifested, you

value, love, and deeply respect the manifested and every life form in

it as an expression of the One Life beyond form. You also know that

every form is destined to dissolve again and that ultimately nothing

out here matters all that much. You have “overcome the world,” in

the words of Jesus, or, as the Buddha put it, you have “crossed over

to the other shore.”

THE TRUE NATURE OF SPACE AND TIME

Now consider this: If there were nothing but silence, it wouldn’t exist for you; you wouldn’t know what it is. Only when sound appears does silence come into being. Similarly, if there were only space without

CONSCIOUS DEATH

Apart from dreamless sleep, which I mentioned already, there is one other involuntary portal. It opens up briefly at the time of physical death. Even if you have missed all the other opportunities for spiritual

ENTER THE NOW FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE

I always thought that true enlightenment is not possible except through love in a relationship between a man and a woman. Isn’t this what makes us whole again? How can one’s life be fulfilled until that

LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIPS

Unless and until you access the consciousness frequency of presence, all relationships, and particularly intimate relationships, are deeply flawed and ultimately dysfunctional. They may seem perfect for a

ADDICTION AND THE SEARCH FOR WHOLENESS

Why should we become addicted to another person? The reason why the romantic love relationship is such an intense and universally sought-after experience is that it seems to offer liberation

FROM ADDICTIVE TO ENLIGHTENED RELATIONSHIPS

Can we change an addictive relationship into a true one? Yes. Being present and intensifying your presence by taking your attention ever more deeply into the Now: Whether you are living

RELATIONSHIPS AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

As the egoic mode of consciousness and all the social, political, and economic structures that it created enter the final stage of collapse, the relationships between men and women reflect the deep state of

WHY WOMEN ARE CLOSER TO ENLIGHTENMENT

Are the obstacles to enlightenment the same for a man as for a woman? Yes, but the emphasis is different. Generally speaking, it is easier for

DISSOLVING THE COLLECTIVE FEMALE PAIN-BODY

Why is the pain-body more of an obstacle for women? The pain-body usually has a collective as well as a personal aspect. The personal aspect is the accumulated residue of emotional pain

GIVE UP THE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOURSELF

When one is fully conscious, would one still have a need for a relationship? Would a man still feel drawn to a woman? Would a woman still feel incomplete without a man?

THE HIGHER GOOD BEYOND GOOD AND BAD

Is there a difference between happiness and inner peace? Yes. Happiness depends on conditions being perceived as positive; inner peace does not.

THE END OF YOUR LIFE DRAMA

In that state of acceptance and inner peace, even though you may not call it “bad,” can anything still come into your life that would be called “bad” from a perspective of ordinary consciousness?

IMPERMANENCE AND THE CYCLES OF LIFE

However, as long as you are in the physical dimension and linked to the collective human psyche, physical pain — although rare — is still possible. This is not to be confused with suffering, with mental-

USING AND RELINQUISHING NEGATIVITY

All inner resistance is experienced as negativity in one form or another. All negativity is resistance. In this context, the two words are almost synonymous. Negativity ranges from irritation or impatience to

THE NATURE OF COMPASSION

Having gone beyond the mind-made opposites, you become like a deep lake. The outer situation of your life and whatever happens there is the surface of the lake. Sometimes calm, sometimes windy

TOWARD A DIFFERENT ORDER OF REALITY

I don’t agree that the body needs to die. I am convinced that we can achieve physical immortality. We believe in death and that’s why the body dies.

ACCEPTANCE OF THE NOW

You mentioned “surrender” a few times. I don’t like that idea. It sounds somewhat fatalistic. If we always accept the way things are, we are not going to make any effort to improve them. It seems to me

FROM MIND ENERGY TO SPIRITUAL ENERGY

Letting go of resistance is easier said than done. I still don’t see clearly how to let go. If you say it is by surrendering, the question remains: “How?”

SURRENDER IN PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

What about people who want to use me, manipulate or control me? Am I to surrender to them? They are cut off from Being, so they unconsciously attempt to get

TRANSFORMING ILLNESS INTO ENLIGHTENMENT

If someone is seriously ill and completely accepts their condition and surrenders to the illness, would they not have given up their will to get back to health? The determination to fight the illness would not

WHEN DISASTER STRIKES

As far as the still unconscious majority of the population is concerned, only a critical limit-situation has the potential to crack the hard shell of the ego and force them into surrender and so into the awakened

TRANSFORMING SUFFERING INTO PEACE

I read about a stoic philosopher in ancient Greece who, when he was told that his son had died in an accident, replied, “I knew he was not immortal.” Is that surrender? If it is, I don’t want it. There are some

THE WAY OF THE CROSS

There are many accounts of people who say they have found God through their deep suffering, and there is the Christian expression “the way of the cross,” which I suppose points to the same thing.

THE POWER TO CHOOSE

What about all those people who, it seems, actually want to suffer? I have a friend whose partner is physically abusive toward her, and her previous relationship was of a similar kind. Why does she choose such

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