Power of Now

Religion and spirituality

First published: 1997
Print length: 382 pagesReadHowYouWant.com, Limited, 2010

Description

Eckhart Tolle begins from a personal movement out of despair shortly after he turned twenty-nine and develops a spiritual guide to changing how people relate to themselves and others. His central argument is that much suffering arises from patterns people sustain within their own minds, and that its hold can lessen through full attention to the present moment. Drawing on Buddhism, meditation theory, and relaxation practices, the book pairs its philosophy with simple exercises in self-reflection and presence. Rather than promising control over external circumstances, it asks readers to examine the mental habits that pull attention toward distress. Its practical focus is the possibility of meeting experience directly, with less resistance and greater awareness of the life unfolding now.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Conversational · Direct · Essayistic

Pace

Measured

Tone

Earnest · Hopeful · Philosophical · Reflective

Structure

Argumentative

Focus

Argument · Ideas · Voice

Emotional intensity

3 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 2 / 5
Ideas: 3 / 5
Structure: 2 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

FreedomIdentityMental healthReligion and faithTransformation

About Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle is a German spiritual teacher and self-help author whose work turns a small set of ideas about attention, thought, and identity into practical contemplative instruction. Drawing from Zen Buddhism, Christian mysticism, Sufism, and Hinduism without affiliating himself with one religion, he writes in direct, conversational prose and repeatedly returns to the present moment as a means of loosening mental habits that sustain distress. The Power of Now develops this argument through personal experience, philosophical explanation, questions and answers, and simple exercises in observing thought and bodily awareness. A New Earth broadens the inquiry from private suffering to collective dysfunction, using anecdotes and concepts such as the “pain-body” to describe how emotional history can perpetuate anger, anxiety, and conflict. His shorter books alter the pace rather than the underlying method. Stillness Speaks arranges spare reflections around silence, acceptance, relationships, and death, while Practising the Power of Now distills the teaching into brief readings, meditations, and exercises designed for repetition rather than continuous argument.

Series

spirituality

Books by Eckhart Tolle

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited
Language: English
ISBN: 9780369304230

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