Book Summary - Power of now by Eckhart tolle

 POWER OF NOW by ECKHART TOLLE - A guide to spiritual enlightenment 

Revisiting this book to write a summary was an interesting experience and I realised the power of tolles words in the book more while doing it. Tolle takes you to an infinite invisible expansive world. Some of the terms like enlightenment, consciousness, being and so on sounds lofty, empty and uninteresting but not in this book. He mentions that words are just signposts or pointers that are meant to enable an experience. The words have to take you beyond itself to another plane of transcendental reality. So this book is about spiritual enlightenment. Dont know what it was but for some reason I had dropped reading this book and the soft copy remained stored in my drive unread for 3-4 years. It appears funny that I had put down reading a book that became so absorbing and interesting to me after a time period. Beginning to believe probably a shift in my consciousness occurred in the last few years and reached a level where I was pushed to read this book. 

Tolle begins the book by recounting his enlightenment experience earlier in life when he was in his late twenties . He had turned into an ever after enlightened being who marvelled at the beauty and aliveness of all things around him, from a deeply depressed person who had lost interest in life with suicidal thoughts .  He simplifies enlightenment and thinks its a natural state , a deep unshakeable peace, a radiant joy of being, the seed of which is present in every human being. Its nothing super human and the noise caused by the chatter of mind is the one which is preventing people  from being enlightened. That state of no mind or break in the mind stream where there is inner stillness and inner connectedness with being in the present, is when consciousness has taken control over the mind . When there is no identification with the mind and there is no thinking one has transcended or gone beyond the mind into the realm of consciousness. Thoughts and the mind are just a small segment of the spiritual realm of consciousness. The mind with its intellect is controlled by the consciousness , the innermost presence. Tolle has refrained from using the term God and instead uses the term Being as he feels that the term God has been misused a lot. Instead of pointing beyond the word itself and to a transcendental reality the term God brings up a mental image or a mental idol and would remain like just an idea that one believes in. Neither the term God nor being nor any other term can define or explain the ineffable reality behind the term. So words in this book are just pointers or signposts meant to enable an experience. He does not want to reduce the infinite invisible to a finite entity. The word being could be translated into shoonyata in Sanskrit which means nothingness. Thinking is often believed to make ones identity and necessary for worlds development but the negative aspect of thinking is that thoughts could take control over ones being and the ‘off’ button to stop thinking cannot be found, it becomes an affliction, a disease. Instead of the being becoming the master the mind enslaves the being. Enlightenment is a state where the mind fragmented by thinking is converted into a state of wholeness where there is no thinking and there is deep peace. The book goes on to explain how to transcend into a plane beyond thinking and beyond the mind. The explanation goes on in a question answer mode. The questions are all curious , interesting ones some of which arises in our minds too.               

    According to tolle emotion is the reflection of the mind in the body. They are energised thought patterns which results in reactions in the body. When one is unaware or does not feel ones emotions they are manifested as bodily disorders or states. When a person is intensely angry inside but does not express it or is not aware of it people around pick it up subliminally and it triggers the latent anger within them resulting in violence against the originally unconsciously angry person. One can feel emotions by focusing attention on the inner energy field of the body.  By watching ones emotions one becomes present in the being. Positive mental states like love, peace, joy are not dualistic they are not just emotions but are beyond the mind. 

    We need mind and time to function in this world but at some point they take over and that results in dysfunction, pain and sorrow. Become aware of your feeling and watch the thoughts . Do not think, analyse, judge the feeling . Just be aware. That is the power of now, the power of your own conscious presence. The cause for power games is the need to be right which is a violence that results from weakness disguised as strength. The identification with the mind results in ego identification and unconscious actions like arguments and corrosive relationships. For a lot of people ego identification results in attaching with the problems which becomes a part of their self and they will not want to detach from problems. 

    Clock time is when you make use of the past or future to learn. Psychological time is when you attach the past or future to your self and it becomes a false sense of self , your identity. Many times clock Time turns into psychological time. Then there is no being in the present instead you are all the time waiting to make it or arrive at. Psychological time is like going through hell in the belief that it will lead to heaven. Psychological time is mental illness. All negativity is caused by accumulation of psychological time and taking away of the presence. Time is an illusion.

Bhagavad Gita mentions karma yoga as the path of consecrated action. There is no clamouring for results. Instead being in the present and doing the best with full quality, love and attention. The difference between ordinary unconsciousness and deep unconsciousness is in the degree of resistance or denial to being in the present. Ordinary unconsciousness is like a background static where there is constant unease. In deep unconsciousness there is pain , anger and intense emotions. When a person is present in the now then there is a high vibrational frequency in which negativity and negative people cannot survive. When people don’t take responsibility for their inner space it causes psychic pollution (negativity) which results in outward pollution.

 

             Past is referred to only when it is relevant to the present. Die to the past every moment . Past Is not required. There are two types of purpose of life. Inner purpose and outer purpose. Outer purpose has reference to space and time and the inner purpose is timeless and in the present. Most of the Time one gains the world but loses the soul. Zen masters tested the students present centeredness by creeping up from behind and hitting them with a stick. If the student was present centered and alert he could save himself from not getting beaten up. Satori in zen is a flash of insight or enlightenment. Beauty is appreciated and the inner essence of an art can be perceived only in the stillness of presence where there are no thoughts . There is no yours or mine in presence , presence is just one.

Inner body is that energy field inside the external body through which one connects with the consciousness. When one is anchored in the inner body one is not lost to the external world or lost in their minds. To connect with the inner body focus your attention on that inner field feel the cells inside the body throw your attention onto hands arms feet legs chest abdomen and from feet to head up and down and feel the energy flow. The spiritual practise involves not giving 100 percent attention to the outside world while involved in everyday activities instead keep some attention on the inner body and connecting with the inner stillness in you all the time. One can can access the unmanifested consciously by one of the following portals - connecting with the inner body , intensely being present , surrender to what is, disidentify with the mind . The unmanifested is that inner stillness the nothingness deep inside . Even if the whole world gets destroyed the unmanifested would be unaffected.

Time is the fourth dimension of space. Space is nothingness. It is the unmanifested _ the inner stillness and space. For the unmanifested to be known objects or things must exist. For divine plans to unfold the objects must exist. In a romantic relationship duality of love hate exists . It is not true love ,which is non dual. In dual love its basic satisfaction of the ego that is being accomplished. Addictive relationships satisfy the ego whereas enlightened relationships there is presence and the oneness of love is experienced. When a mind space is created there is transformation. The act of knowing that there is disharmony or no peace creates a space around the disharmony or non peace and transmutes it. When one notices unconsciousness in the partner just the Knowing of it and no reaction to it is the way for transforming the person who behaved unconsciously. 

 

Women are more closer to enlightenment as qualities like surrender , nonjudgement, being open to the awareness of being which are  feminine qualities are found easily in women. The past pain locks up the Life energy flow. Being present and not attaching with the past makes you responsible for your inner space. We are like a deep ocean and the ripples or waves in the ocean are the forms existing in the ocean. We can have affectations in the form state but on a deeper inner state we are unaffected like a deep ocean. Acute unhappiness can be a great awakener. The difference between I and myself is the subject object difference. Its a duality. In enlightenment there is no duality of I and myself instead there is no relationship with the self.

There are good life conditions or bad conditions. So called bad conditions have lesson concealed in it. So these are to be seen as they are and not as love hate, like dislike etc. In conditions like death or other unhappy situations , externally there is unhappiness but internally you could be at deep inner peace. The peace is beyond happiness. External things are not your life but it is a life situation. The impermanence of things must pull you out of the illusion that external things can bring about ever lasting happiness. Things may give you superficial happiness but not the deep peace within. Negativity is a result of resistance of the mind. When there is no presence for example criticism causes negativity. But when one lets that criticism to pass through you , when there is no resistance then you are more in control and don’t get run over by the mind. You can make a conscious choice to handle the criticism.

Compassion for others is knowing the real nature of yourself as well as others. Real nature is that deathless dimension which is unchangeable ,and pervading everywhere . Only mind objects like forms and thoughts die. Surrender is yielding to the life force or flow of life and not resisting it.  Surrender changes the quality of consciousness. Following surrender the person acts from spiritual energy and not mind energy. Mind energy has polar opposites and operates from negativity . Spiritual energy is a different order of reality found in surrendered persons. Become an alchemist. Transmute base metal into gold , suffering into enlightenment. The way of the cross is when your biggest suffering the cross becomes the best thing that has happened to you. It forces you into surrender death and nothingness. God is no thing. 

   

When not present in the now there is not enough light to dispel the darkness. The past is not dissolved and the conditioned mind runs the show.