[17] The Power of Now

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is the most transformative book I have read, and I would go so far to say that if you were to read one book in your entire life, I would recommend this one. It is not a self help book like the title sounds, but could be described  more as a spiritual treatise. The book talks about end of suffering, not at the cosmetic level but the root cause level. After oscillating between being a religious zealot and a rebellious athiest most of my life, this book offers another perspective, and while reading it was a series of epiphany one after the other. It seems like, this book treads the underlying thread that all religions have been pointing to, which has been distorted over the years by priests for their vested interests. 

The theme of this book is that past and future are illusions created by the mind and take us away from the 'now' which is all there is, and all the suffering in our life is caused by the unconscious identification with the mind, which drags away from our true self. To explain furthur, if you are reading this you would have had a lot of life experiences so far. You would have experienced happiness, sadness, fallen in love, fallen out of love, trauma, misery, depression, ecstacy etc in varying proportions. But is there something that is remains changeless despite the changing experiences? Tolle calls it the consciousness or the silent observer of events, which is beyond the comprehension of the mind but can only be experienced. It is  not to be confused as a lethargic or passive observer but this incredibly alive, alert and  intelligent silence could be the womb of all creation itself. It is the beautiful silence characterised by harmony through which nature operates- an embryo grows into a baby, seed germinates into a tree, the sun rises and sets,stars twinkle, universe expands etc.

Athletes sometimes experience moments, while playing their sport when they feel invincible which is commonly referred by them as 'the zone'. Similarly, sometimes while writing poetry, watching a sunset, painting, having a flash of brilliant idea we experience something magical. What is common in all these states is that the constant chattering of the mind is absent, and we are just present. Tolle says, any act of true creation takes place not because of thinking or mind but because we accessed to  the 'gaps' in thinking. He says, the mind is an accumulation of past experiences and interpretations and incapable of coming up with anything original. However, due to the massive momentum of the mind it takes over us and we are possessed by it and rather than us using the mind, the mind uses us, and thus separates us from our true nature.  

Furthur, Tolle says, the turbulance in the world is caused by the turbulance in the collective consciousness. Turbulance is the world would refer to all the wars going on, terrorism, rape, murder, child abuse, poverty, disease and even natural disasters like Tsunami, global warming etc. You might say, How the hell am I responsible for all these which have nothing to do with me? It is a concept which you might better understand after reading the book. I was shocked when I read the following statistic. The last hundred years has seen humans kill 100 million of their fellow species, which is as much as amount of people killed in the last 2000 years. The insanity of the collective mind, amplified by science and technology, is rapidly taking our species to the brink of disaster. This statistic does not include the emotional wounds we continue to inflict on each other by identification with the unconscious mind. Tolle says, 'You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing the goodness to emerge. But it can only emerge if something fundamental changes in your state of consciousness.'

I usually hesitate to share my opinions on these topics in a public domain, and I risk sounding new agey in this post, but since we are more restless and preoccupied than ever and this post is a humble attempt to try to bring to light the urgency of the situation. Living the concepts of this book could lead not only to true and lasting power, abundance, relationships and inner peace but even possibly enligtenment or Buddhahood. I would love to discuss (not debate) about this furthur with anybody interested.

Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to "die before you die" --- and find that there is no death ~Eckhart Tolle- ThePower of Now - page 46