The Power of Now A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

by Tolle, Eckhart

• ISBN13: 9781577314806
• ISBN10: 1577314808
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-08-19
• Publisher: New World Library

Summary

To make the journey into the Now we will need to leave our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. From the very first page of Eckhart Tolle's extraordinary book, we move rapidly into a significantly higher altitude where we breathe a lighter air. We become connected to the indestructible essence of our Being, "The eternal, ever present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death." Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart Tolle uses simple language and an easy question and answer format to guide us. A word of mouth phenomenon since its first publication, The Power of Now is one of those rare books with the power to create an experience in readers, one that can radically change their lives for the better.

Author Biography

Eckhart Tolle was born in Germany, where he spent the first thirteen years of his life. After graduating from the University of London, he was a research scholar and supervisor 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. For the past ten years he has been a counselor and spiritual teacher, working with individuals and small groups in Europe and North America. He has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, since 1996. Through this book, his teachings become available to a wider audience for the first time.

Table of Contents

Author's Preface to the Paperback Edition	xiii
Introduction	3	(8)
The Origin of This Book	3	(3)
The Truth That Is Within You	6	(5)
CHAPTER ONE: You Are Not Your Mind	11	(22)
The Greatest Obstacle to Enlightenment	11	(6)
Freeing Yourself from Your Mind	17	(4)
Enlightenment: Rising above Thought	21	(4)
Emotion: The Body's Reaction to Your Mind	25	(8)
CHAPTER TWO: Consciousness: The Way Out of Pain	33	(14)
Create No More Pain in the Present	33	(3)
Past Pain: Dissolving the Pain-Body	36	(5)
Ego Identification with the Pain-Body	41	(2)
The Origin of Fear	43	(2)
The Ego's Search for Wholeness	45	(2)
CHAPTER THREE: Moving Deeply into the Now	47	(24)
Don't Seek Your Self in the Mind	47	(1)
End the Delusion of Time	48	(1)
Nothing Exists Outside the Now	49	(2)
The Key to the Spiritual Dimension	51	(2)
Accessing the Power of the Now	53	(3)
Letting Go of Psychological Time	56	(2)
The Insanity of Psychological Time	58	(2)
Negativity and Suffering Have Their Roots in Time	60	(2)
Finding the Life Underneath Your Life Situation	62	(2)
All Problems Are Illusions of the Mind	64	(2)
A Quantum Leap in the Evolution of Consciousness	66	(1)
The Joy of Being	67	(4)
CHAPTER FOUR: Mind Strategies for Avoiding the Now	71	(22)
Loss of Now: The Core Delusion	71	(2)
Ordinary Unconsciousness and Deep Unconsciousness	73	(2)
What Are They Seeking?	75	(1)
Dissolving Ordinary Unconsciousness	76	(1)
Freedom from Unhappiness	77	(5)
Wherever You Are, Be There Totally	82	(6)
The Inner Purpose of Your Life's Journey	88	(2)
The Past Cannot Survive in Your Presence	90	(3)
CHAPTER FIVE: The State of Presence	93	(14)
It's Not What You Think It Is	93	(1)
The Esoteric Meaning of "Waiting"	94	(2)
Beauty Arises in the Stillness of Your Presence	96	(2)
Realizing Pure Consciousness	98	(6)
Christ: The Reality of Your Divine Presence	104	(3)
CHAPTER SIX: The Inner Body	107	(22)
Being Is Your Deepest Self	107	(1)
Look beyond the Words	108	(2)
Finding Your Invisible and Indestructible Reality	110	(2)
Connecting with the Inner Body	112	(1)
Transformation through the Body	113	(3)
Sermon on the Body	116	(1)
Have Deep Roots Within	116	(3)
Before You Enter the Body, Forgive	119	(2)
Your Link with the Unmanifested	121	(1)
Slowing Down the Aging Process	122	(1)
Strengthening the Immune System	123	(2)
Let the Breath Take You into the Body	125	(1)
Creative Use of Mind	126	(1)
The Art of Listening	126	(3)
CHAPTER SEVEN: Portals into the Unmanifested	129	(16)
Going Deeply into the Body	129	(2)
The Source of Chi	131	(1)
Dreamless Sleep	132	(1)
Other Portals	133	(2)
Silence	135	(1)
Space	136	(4)
The True Nature of Space and Time	140	(2)
Conscious Death	142	(3)
CHAPTER EIGHT: Enlightened Relationships	145	(32)
Enter the Now from Wherever You Are	145	(2)
Love/Hate Relationships	147	(3)
Addiction and the Search for Wholeness	150	(3)
From Addictive to Enlightened Relationships	153	(3)
Relationships as Spiritual Practice	156	(8)
Why Women Are Closer to Enlightenment	164	(2)
Dissolving the Collective Female Pain-Body	166	(6)
Give Up the Relationship with Yourself	172	(5)
CHAPTER NINE: Beyond Happiness and Unhappiness There Is Peace	177	(28)
The Higher Good beyond Good and Bad	177	(3)
The End of Your Life Drama	180	(2)
Impermanence and the Cycles of Life	182	(6)
Using and Relinquishing Negativity	188	(7)
The Nature of Compassion	195	(2)
Toward a Different Order of Reality	197	(8)
CHAPTER TEN: The Meaning of Surrender	205	(26)
Acceptance of the Now	205	(5)
From Mind Energy to Spiritual Energy	210	(2)
Surrender in Personal Relationships	212	(4)
Transforming Illness into Enlightenment	216	(2)
When Disaster Strikes	218	(2)
Transforming Suffering into Peace	220	(3)
The Way of the Cross	223	(3)
The Power to Choose	226	(5)
Notes	231	(2)
Acknowledgments	233	(2)
About the Author	235