The Power of Now
By Eckhart Tolle
Reviewed and Recommended by Robert Feferman, CSW
Having been consciously engaged in being present
to my life's journey for the past twenty years, I have participated
in many different transformational workshops. I have also participated
in individual therapy, group therapy and have read countless books
on "how to" be myself. Eckhart Tolle has summed up this journey
in his book The Power Of Now by focusing on being in the
present, being conscious of the past or future but engaged with
the present. This requires you to be in touch with your feelings,
moods, desires, as well as your thoughts and behavior.
Being present in the moment is not a new idea for
me as many of the leaders I have followed around the country have
said this in many different ways. But what makes The Power
Of Now unique is Tolle's view of being an "observer"
of the mind. His notion that someone can learn to put distance
between their ego thoughts and their current circumstances without
judgment or criticism, allows one to be an observer of their thoughts
and be very powerful. As I have tried to do this while reading
his book I found myself understanding and seeing the power of
myself as an observer, but found it cumbersome and difficult to
do in the moment. Like many other practices this does require
constant attention and diligence to benefit from it.
There were several ideas that Tolle put forth that
I was able to relate to my life. The first is fear. Over the years
I have been listening to many of my gurus talk about the fact
that there is either fear or love. And for the first time I can
understand what Tolle is talking about when he refers to the world
as being dominated by fear and that the egoic mind can only operate
inside of fear. Fear is what holds our illusions together. The
illusions that only if this or that were different then I would
be okay. To surrender to the moment and be in the present would
blow apart the ego's existence. The egoic mind will do anything
to prevent you from being present in the moment. Tolle believes
that by learning to be a diligent observer of the egoic mind you
can then put some distance between yourself and your thoughts
giving you access to make different choices. I believe that this
can be a very effective tool to use in everyday life. The challenge
then becomes to learn how to surrender in the moment and be willing
to explore my feelings, emotions and behaviors as they arise.
A task easier said then done.
The second idea that is worth exploring is Tolle's
notion that we are not just our bodies, we are also our inner
body or "invisible body" which is the doorway into being.
Through the inner body, you are forever one with God. I interpret
this to mean that when we allow ourselves to fully accept the
physical body, let go of any false beliefs, and the endless struggle
to change it, we will be fully present and left with inner peace.
Once I accept my body then I can be present and peaceful. In that
moment I have the opportunity to transform my relationship with
my body and appreciate it for its true purpose. I can see the
value of this as being priceless and for most people this is where
the egoic mind and fear meet. Myself, like many others, have this
long held believe that I am my body and there is something wrong
with it. If only It can be altered in some way to look like someone
else's body then and only then will I be okay. If I accept my
body then it feels like I won't know who I am. I know longer am
the thought that I am not okay. The fear is in allowing ourselves
to accept our body for the way it is. We do so by learning to
accept it, respect it, and learn to listen to it with new ears.
Like so many of the body awareness concepts on this website, Tolle
offers many pragmatic and powerful ideas.
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