The Power of Now
1997
- religion & spirituality
- nyt:paperback_advice=2012-01-14
- self-improvement
- spiritual life
- nonfiction
- religious philosophies
- religion
- religion and psychology
- spiritualism
- affirmations
The story
Eckhart Tolle has emerged as one of today's most inspiring teachers. In The Power of Now, already a worldwide bestseller, the author describes his transition from despair to self-realization soon after his 29th birthday. Tolle took another ten years to understand this transformation, during which time he evolved a philosophy that has parallels in Buddhism, relaxation techniques, and meditation theory but is also eminently practical. In The Power of Now he shows readers how to recognize themselves as the creators of their own pain, and how to have a pain-free existence by living fully in the present. Accessing the deepest self, the true self, can be learned, he says, by freeing ourselves from the conflicting, unreasonable demands of the mind and living "present, fully, and intensely, in the Now."
What it’s like
Quiet, unhurried prose that circles back on itself, like a teacher speaking slowly across a table: short declarative sentences, gentle repetition of the words "now" and "present," and very little imagery beyond the everyday, such as breath, a walk, a cup of tea, or the ticking of a clock. The sensory world is deliberately plain, with the attention pulled inward toward the body and the thinking mind rather than outward to landscape. The vibe is calm, contemplative, and quietly earnest, with a soft devotional warmth and no dramatic highs. It suits a slow Sunday morning, a few pages before bed, or a stretch of time set aside for stillness and reflection. Pacing is meditative and repetitive by design, so each short section asks the reader to pause and return to the breath. The emotional register is reassuring and gently instructive, and the arc is one of a restless, despairing mind slowly learning to rest in the present moment. There is no violence, no sexual content, and no fear or cruelty; the only darkness is the acknowledged suffering of anxiety and depression, handled with patience rather than dread. It is for readers seeking self-help grounded in mindfulness, anyone curious about Buddhist-leaning spirituality without its ritual, and people who want a gentle nudge toward presence and inner peace.
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