48 pages • 1 hour read
Eckhart TolleThe Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Important Quotes
“There is frequent mention of the amazing and beneficial effects of inner body awareness, the sense of freedom that comes from letting go of self-identification with one’s personal history and life-situation, and a newfound inner peace that arises as one learns to relinquish mental/emotional resistance to the ‘suchness’ of the present moment.”
(Preface, Page xiv)
Tolle describes the messages he receives from readers and summarizes the most powerful parts of his work that people most appreciate. He claims that fans of his work range from “ordinary” people to spiritual professionals, such as nuns and monks, and psychotherapists. By including this in his preface, Tolle attempts to persuade the reader that his book contains valuable advice that could also give them the same feeling of “freedom.”
“‘I cannot live with myself any longer.’ This was the thought that kept repeating itself in my mind. Then suddenly I became aware of what a peculiar thought it was. ‘Am I one or two? If I cannot live with myself there must be two of me: The ‘I’ and the ‘self’ that ‘I’ cannot live with. ‘Maybe,’ I thought, ‘Only one of them is real.’”
(Introduction, Page 3)
Tolle reflects on how his severe depression and suicidal ideation prompted him to recognize two distinct “selves” within him. He concludes that the “false” self that he could not live with was the one who lived in fear and pain, while his “true nature” was able to live in bliss and contentment once it was free of his mind’s constant thinking. This realization underpins Tolle’s arguments about the ego and the “true nature.”
“I understood that the intense pressure of suffering that night must have forced my consciousness to withdraw from its identification with the unhappy and deeply fearful self, which is ultimately a fiction of the mind […] What was left then was my true nature as the ever-present I am: consciousness in its pure state prior to identification with form.”
(Chapter 1, Page 5)
Tolle recalls his rock-bottom experience of depression and what he believes it triggered within his mind. He argues that he could not experience “consciousness” without removing his egoic mind and his identification with it. Tolle’s experience adds a personal touch to his work and makes his claims about the
