Niloufar Malekzadeh's Reviews > The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
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it was amazing

This book changed my perception of life and only after reading it for a second time. The first time I finished reading it, I put the book down, looked into the distance and muttered "what the f***?!" and tossed it aside for several years. I now realize that this reaction was because of the judgment, skepticism and cynicism I had towards the ideas in this book and the attachment to my own ways of thinking that made me miss the message completely.

A few weeks ago I downloaded the audio book and listened to it; it was as if I was listening to a completely different book because my perception of it had changed completely. I could understand the author's message more clearly this time and whether or not this could be attributed to my increased age or actually listening to the book as opposed to reading it I'm not sure.

Eckhart Tolle's main message is simple: stay present in this moment right now. In his own words "realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life". This of course sounds much easier said than done but Eckhart provides tips on how to become better at doing this in each moment.

For example, one of my favorite strategies is asking yourself out loud "I wonder what my next thought is going to be?" You will likely notice that it takes a few seconds longer for a thought to emerge and you will be aware when it does, it does not creep up on you and consume you. Another example that he points out is staying focused on your feelings, not thoughts. When a thought comes up that upsets you or makes you angry or worried, take a deep breath and focus on your internal feelings. Focus on the feeling of the sadness, not the thought. Where do you feel the sadness? In your head? stomach, etc. Focus on the sensation of where you feel the sadness and this will not only quiet your mind but also decrease the intensity of the feeling you are experiencing in your body.

One of the strangest feelings I experienced while doing these exercises was fear. At one point reading this I experienced mental discomfort and anxiety and did what the book suggested: I stopped what I was doing, focused deeply on my inner feelings and tried to pinpoint where exactly I was feeling it. My mind was quiet for several seconds and instead of immediately experiencing relief, at first I felt fear. I had never experienced a quiet mind before, I was used to thinking and thinking endlessly, often pointless thoughts, and having these thoughts evoke a strong negative emotional response in me.

When for the first time my mind was quiet, I was afraid because it was something I was not used to at all. I felt uncomfortable. I realized that I had been thinking destructively and pointlessly for so long that I had grown accustomed to it.

One particular quote stood out for me as one of the reasons, if not the only reason, why this book did not resonate with me the first time: "Once you have identified with some form of negativity, you do not want to let it go, and on a deeply unconscious level, you do not want positive change. It would threaten your identity as a depressed, angry or hard-done by person. You will then ignore, deny or sabotage the positive in your life. This is a common phenomenon. It is also insane."
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Reading Progress

Finished Reading
September 5, 2015 – Shelved

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