Move over James Redfield. Since The Power of Now was published in the US in 1999 (2001 in the UK), Eckhart Tolle has become the exciting new name on the guru scene. Tolle's message is profound, but like many of the best spiritual messages, quite simple: you need to discover your true self. That's not the person who walks and talks, or even the person inside your head who thinks your thoughts. Step back, Tolle says, and observe the process of thinking; the person doing the observing is the real you. And the only moment that is real is Now; the past and future can both drag you down, so live in the current moment. This is the path to Enlightenment or Self-Realisation.

For those who have been deeply impressed by Tolle's first book and are waiting for a follow-up, note that Practising the Power of Now is not a new book; it is a collection of extracts from the original book--the edited highlights--and short spiritual exercises. Apparently, it is designed primarily for those who already have the original book, but want a slim and concise volume they can carry around and dip into--the meat without the veg, so to speak.

In comparison with the original book, Practising the Power of Now does seem a little scrappy. It's full of profound messages, but the well-argued connecting material is missing. For those who haven't read either, the original The Power of Now is certainly better value for money--twice the length at the same price. But for fans, for those who prefer bite-sized spiritual truths, or as a gift to either of these, Practising the Power of Now contains all of Tolle's teaching in an easily accessible format. --David V Barrett

'this practical mystic's modern gospel offers transcendent truths that set us free'

(Of THE POWER OF NOW) 'This book is generating quite a buzz of excitement. It is quite simply one of the clearest and most accessible texts on becoming more present that we have seen.' (Kindred Spirit )

'The must-read bible du jour' (Red Magazine )

'The Power of Now can transform your thinking. The result? More joy, right now.' (Oprah Winfrey )

'this practical mystic's modern gospel offers transcendent truths that set us free' (Dan Millman )

'The must-read bible du jour'

As Red magazine described THE POWER OF NOW it is the ' must-read bible du jour'. Already a phenomenon in the States where it is the top-selling West Coast title, its success is fast translating around the world too.
Eckhart Tolle's book describes the experience of heightened consciousness that radically transformed his life - and shows how by living in the moment we can also reach a higher state of being where we can find joy and peace and where problems do not exist . The invaluable companion volume - PRACTISING THE POWER OF NOW - contains all the essential techniques we need to start to put this important book into practice in our own lives. No reader will be complete without it.

As "Red" magazine described "The Power Of Now" it is the ' must-read bible du jour'. Already a phenomenon in the States where it is the top-selling West Coast title, its success is fast translating around the world too. Eckhart Tolle's book describes the experience of heightened consciousness that radically transformed his life - and shows how by living in the moment we can also reach a higher state of being where we can find joy and peace and where problems do not exist . The invaluable companion volume - "Practising The Power Of Now" - contains all the essential techniques we need to start to put this important book into practice in our own lives. No reader will be complete without it.

Eckhart Tolle was born in Germany, graduated from the University of London and worked at Cambridge University. When he was twenty-nine, a profound spiritual transformation virtually dissolved his old identity and radically changed the course of his life. He is now a counsellor and spiritual teacher.

There is an eternal, ever-present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death.
Many people use the word God to describe it; I often call it Being. The word Being explains nothing, but nor does God. Being, however, has the advantage that it is an open concept. It does not reduce the infinite invisible to a finite entity. It is impossible to form a mental image of it. Nobody can claim exclusive possession of Being. It is your very presence, and it is immediately accessible to you as the feeling of your own presence. So it is only a small step from the word Being to the experience of Being.

BEING IS NOT ONLY BEYOND BUT ALSO DEEP WITHIN every form as its innermost invisible and indestructible essence. This means that it is accessible to you now as your own deepest self, your true nature. But don?t seek to grasp it with your mind. Don?t try to understand it. You can know it only when the mind is still. When you are present, when your attention is fully and intensely in the Now, Being can be felt, but it can never be understood mentally.
To regain awareness of Being and to abide in that state of ?feeling-realization? is enlightenment.
The word enlightenment conjures up the idea of some superhuman accomplishment, and the ego likes to keep it that way, but it is simply your natural state of felt oneness with Being. It is a state of connectedness with something immeasurable and indestructible, something that, almost paradoxically, is essentially you and yet is much greater than you. It is finding your true nature beyond name and form.
The inability to feel this connectedness gives rise to the illusion of separation, from yourself and from the world around you. You then perceive yourself, consciously or unconsciously, as an isolated fragment. Fear arises, and conflicts within and without become the norm.
The greatest obstacle to experiencing the reality of your connectedness is identification with your mind, which causes thought to become compulsive. Not to be able to stop thinking is a dreadful affliction, but we don?t realize this because almost everybody is suffering from it, so it is considered normal. This incessant mental noise prevents you from finding that realm of inner stillness that is inseparable from Being. It also creates a false mind-made self that casts a shadow of fear and suffering.
Identification with your mind creates an opaque screen of concepts, labels, images, words, judgements, and definitions that blocks all true relationship. It comes between you and yourself, between you and your fellow man and woman, between you and nature, between you and God. It is this screen of thought that creates the illusion of separateness, the illusion that there is you and a totally separate ?other.? You then forget the essential fact that, underneath the level of physical appearances and separate forms, you are one with all that is.
The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly.
Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more accurately, it is not so much that you use your mind wrongly ? you usually don?t use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease. You believe that you are your mind. This is the delusion. The instrument has taken you over.
It?s almost as if you were possessed without knowing it, and so you take the possessing entity to be yourself.

THE BEGINNING OF FREEDOM is the realization that you are not the possessing entity ? the thinker. Knowing this enables you to observe the entity. The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated.
You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter ? beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace ? arise from beyond the mind.
You begin to awaken.

2008-08-20 Excellent

Very helpful summary of key points of the original book. I have got the cassette tape and listen to it every day - it is in handy chunks of text of between around one and three minutes duration - or I read a section of the book. So it keeps you on track and reminded of the wisdom of Eckhart Tolle. It never fades and is always helpful, each time I read it there is a new relevance or insight attainable. Well worth getting.