Ernie Truman's Reviews > The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

Perhaps what makes this book stand out from the rest is that it isnt concerned with using the "right" words to connect with the reader primarily because its motive is not personal at all. It actually doesnt rely on the word itself as of the utmost importance, seeing it more as a symbol than the actual truth. It knows that the Truth can not be understood by words, rather it must come by direct contact. We have a lot of books that tell us to stay in the moment, yet the words themselves are not the direct experience but a map to this very experience. The intent is therefore not to understand mentally but to have an experience where a certain type of information is being exchanged with those ready to receive it. Some are not ready due to preconceived notions on how things are and will claim it makes no sense. For instance: There are those people who are not aware that Now is all there is because they associate it with the ticking of a clock but in reality it is the space surrounding and penetrating the clock that stays exactly what it is all the time. To these people Now is over even before it began. This isnt far from the Truth seeing as how Now is not the result of the past but rather the space that manifests both it and the future. In this way what The Present Moment is never started and never ends.

Yet another aspect of this book that stands out is that it says what others have said in the flavor of "the happiness or joy you seek is already within you" but it doesnt try to peruade you of this point. Pointers are given but with no earnestness in trying to prove a point. It trusts that those who "get it" will get it and those who don't, won't.

The focus however is the notion that all human suffering is the result of identification with the ego; that separate self that feels disconnected from the totality of life simply because it perceives that it is confined to a specific time and place that exists from birth and ends at death. What is worse is that you are convinced that you are it. In this belief we cling to the past for an identitiy and hope to find redemption in the future, using the Now as a stepping stone to get there. The situation though is that the Now is not a means to an end but the end in itself. There is nothing to cling to and nowhere to go but this moment, the only moment that really exists.

Whereas certain books recommend different ways of thinking this one proposes that thinking cannot help you consciously connect to The Present, but in fact keeps you in the conditioned mind of past and future, where all the problems seem to be. Where as most books engage your intellect, this one speaks to your being. There lies the real function of the book: even if you don't quite "understand" it there is still the possibility that it will produce a noticeable change in the way you see things. The emphasis is not on "doings" to make one feel better but on Being with whatever situation you are in and not mistaking that situation (or problem) with your life.

This book made quite an impact and will continue to do so. The question is, Do you want to give it a shot?