The book ‘Power of Now’ is a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into several languages in being one of the most powerful books in the modern world that has assisted millions of people in opening up to the spiritual being in finding inner peace, harmonious relationships and enhanced happiness resulting from the realization of enjoying the present moment. This essentially results from a communion between self and others in manifesting the ‘power of now’ as being fundamental in dealing with oneself to attain success and happiness.
The book has been instrumental in transforming the lives of people by removing life’s biggest hurdles arising due to relationships which are in fact the doorway towards being spiritually enlightened in becoming more conscious and loving humans. This way there is a propensity to be alive to the present moment enabling one to take each action in the ‘now’ by understanding the realities in regard to forgiveness, surrender and the inner self. While reading the book one discovers a new identity of self by realizing that we are not what our mind tells us and that one can make his way out of painful psychological situations by surrendering to the power of the present. One discovers that the human body has the potential to enter into a state of integral peace by surrendering to the potent energy that is present in silence and the space surrounding us. There is no doubt that access to happiness is for the asking provided the relevant access points can be reached by bringing oneself into the situation of ‘now’, where in fact as we can realize, there are no existing problems. It is in the present that we experience joy and happiness and can relate to our true self in discovering that we are complete and perfect beings. In effect the book ‘The Power of Now’, extols on us to understand the importance in being aware of the self and of the present as a means of not being deprived in any way due to thought processes related to the future or the past.
In Tolle’s opinion the present moments are the route to the higher sense of inner peace and that ‘being in the now’ results in an awareness exceeding the potential of the mind that shows the way to transcend egoist patterns which brings about clarity of thought thus enabling one to be clear and focused in his actions. The act of being alive to the present in itself makes one to recognize the self, and consequently the space of consciousness associated with the creation of impulses gets working to enable more happiness due to the resultant clarity of thought. One is then able to overcome feelings of pain and distrust by associating positively with labels and forms such as emotions, mind, body, memories, material possessions, fears, desires and social roles. Being present in the moment implies being in a space that gives positive and real experience instead of the implications of what is happening. The essence of the book is that one should use his mind as a tool and not permit the mind to use and influence the person.
In calling the inherent negative energies as the ‘pain body’, Tolle has identified it as the reason for all the sufferings of mankind such as environmental disasters and wars. Critics have countered this argument as sounding too far fetched since these happenings are because of the inherent human instincts, which cause all the given negativities in society. The author has applied the ‘power of now’ to human relationships in explaining ‘true love’ which is ultimately supposed to be without any pain and suffering, and the fact remains that such feelings of love do change the addictive relationships into relationships that are more enlightened thus rendering a better feeling in the person and enabling empowerment in humans to handle routine situations more effectively. Tolle has presented his entire theory very elegantly and convincingly, which is why the book became so popular. The most spectacular achievement of the author is his remarkable capability in expanding a phrase such as ‘the power of now’ into a book of 250 pages, and has gone over the same concept repeatedly in different ways to enable the reader in understanding what he wishes to convey. However in stressing the need for peace and living in the present, he has not written exhaustively about how one can achieve the inner peace that he talks about and how to achieve the state of living in the present. The advice given by him pertaining to getting rid of the ‘evil mind’ and moving on to focusing on the subsequent thought patterns, are not very meaningful and convincing to the reader about their importance in regard to the inner peace.
The fact remains that in today’s busy world all of us are in a virtual rat race to achieve happiness and success. ‘The Power of Now’ gives a concrete message in stressing the significance of giving more importance to the present moment, which is the essence of the book, and which has made it the success story that it has become. If followed in its true spirit the book has immense potential in making people to tap their full potential in achieving their goals of life.